The Goodnight Kiss
by the13thgraduate
Summary: A follow up to another one of my stories, "The Girl Who Got It." Summary: Eric is alone in the basement with a sleeping Jackie. He tries to push down his feelings for her, but they keep resurfacing.
1. Chapter 1

_Rated T for Teen._

 _This is a "follow up" to The Girl Who Got It._

* * *

 **The Goodnight Kiss**

She wasn't supposed to be there. And he wasn't supposed to feel this way. And yet she was there, and he was feeling things that he shouldn't. Donna was his girlfriend. And Jackie was her best friend. It was wrong to get those butterfly-in-the-tummy feelings for his girlfriend's best friend.

She had fallen silently asleep on the couch, waiting for her boyfriend to return from his boy's night out with Hyde and Fez.

Eric suspected she must have been there for hours. He checked his watch. He had to be right, it was 11:46 pm.

He sighed, shaking his head. He had just gotten off work, pulling another late shift as usual for Price-Mart. He saw the basement light on and thought Hyde was home. But when he came downstairs, he saw a sleeping Jackie, curled up on the couch in such a vulnerable position that made him wonder if Sleeping Beauty looked so good.

He usually didn't think about fairy tales. He always laughed at the ridiculousness of them all. But as he stared at her sleeping form, his mind began to think of them. She made him want to think about them. What if there really was a time when the good guys were the hero, fought the battles and won the girl?

Won **the** girl.

But, he told himself, there was no such girl. But then his eyes lingered back over to Jackie.

And yet, there she was. And there he was. Two people, alone in the emptiness of the basement, alone in the emptiness of the world, hidden between the wedges of time. In a hundred years, would anyone really care they were alone together? Probably not, but Eric liked to think that if he lived to a hundred years, he would. So there he stood, committing every last bit of Jackie Burkhart to his memory.

She must've slipped off her shoes when she realized it was going to be a long night. Her tiny feet, covered only by thin knee-high white socks, moved slightly. Her toes crinkled. Eric wondered if she knew he was watching her in her sleep.

He inched forward, his head light in a sort of trance. He wasn't thinking much of what he was doing, other than how good it would be to touch her soft skin. His eyes instinctively moved to graze the bit of skin exposed between her knees and her thighs. His left hand had a strange tingling in it, almost as it desired to touch such bare skin, the desire to feel a delicate woman under his fingertips.

When he looked down, he realized his hand was reaching for her. His elbow was locked in place by his side, but the hand itself, bent at a forty-five degree angle, his middle and index fingers both pointing to her like a compass whispering: This is the one.

He shook his head, sweat sliding from his forehead to the side of his cheek. Jackie was not the one. Donna was the one. Donna was his everything, he had to remember that. He needed to remind himself that Donna was beautiful. Donna was his confidant. Donna wasn't there. And Jackie was sleeping. Jackie was open. Jackie was breathtaking. And Jackie was the everything he could never have.

Why would she even want the likes of him?

Her boyfriend was attractive, hilarious Michael Kelso. At the thought of it, his chest ached more than it ever had before. How could Kelso squander such a precious creature such as the sleeping spectacle right in front of his very eyes? How could Kelso just run around, sleep with a different woman every other week, and claimed he loved her? Eric's head began to throb, the pain in his chest intensifying. His father was right. Life wasn't fair.

He wished for nothing more than his torment to be over, for his legs to bolt up the basement steps and forget all about the tragic beauty simply lying in his wake, but his green eyes continued with the punishment. They examined that checkered mini skirt she was wearing. His mind raced with idea of how easy it would be to lift it up just a bit more.

He took a step back, cursing his urges. He told himself that a true gentleman wouldn't conduct themselves in such a manner, but his hormones were getting the better of him. His dangerous thoughts cooed in his ear that she would never even know it. He could just take a peek. What harm could it do?

"No." He muttered to himself, getting a grip of his own thoughts and impulses.

He stepped back, wanting to distance himself from Jackie, less he do something he would regret. Or worse, something he wouldn't.

His eyes continued to trace her torso. It must've been lean, and gentle, just like the exposed skin of her legs. At the thought of it, his sweat dripped down his nose, his heart thumping against his chest. He blinked, but it did no good. He was already under her spell. Without his permission, his feet edged closer to her, wanting to be closer to her resting body.

His swallowed a difficult lump down his throat. His eyes had just caught sight of her blouse. It only had three buttons, but all three were unclipped. He slowly slid to the right. His whole body both tensed and relaxed at the sight of her slight cleavage. He had to strain his eyes to see it, but it was enough to make his hands tingle again. It was enough to make every part of tingle.

"Oh God." He mumbled. He was helpless. What was he going to do? He wanted so desperately to run his hands all over her, to caress her, to pepper her body in his burning kisses, and heaven help him, to make sweet love to her.

His body just took off without his command. He knelt right by her, his eyes now loving the part of her he wanted to caress the most: Her face. Such a beautiful face. With lips that slightly pouted in her sleep, cheeks that rounded as if displaying her youth, and eyes so sensual that even closed made his knees go weak.

Without realizing what he was doing, his hand slowly reached out, and touched her dark locks of hair. He didn't trust himself to even touch her skin, partly afraid of the wild frenzy it would give him. And before he could stop himself, he called out to her in low whisper, "Jackie…"

Her eyes fluttered in her sleep. He couldn't help but dare hope that she was dreaming of him. Before he could stop himself and remind himself not to do it, he inched forward and lightly pressed his burning lips to her unconscious ones. He closed his eyes. He half expected her to open hers, but she never did. And for a brief moment, he wondered if Sleeping Beauty was exactly like this. And then, something unexpected happened. Her lips opened just a bit, and moved ever so slightly, silently kissing him back. His heart stopped to the point he wondered if he died. But so what if he did? If one had to go out, kissing the person of their desire was the way to go.

With a soft tug of her lips, Eric leaned back, opening his eyes. To both his disappointment and relief, Jackie was still asleep. Though, it gave him some comfort, to know the ends of her mouth were tucked slightly upwards.

He couldn't help but admire her, "It's such a shame that you'll never know."

At that moment, a thundering pounding crashed down the basement steps and Eric jumped as far back from Jackie as he physically could. Yelping from her sleep, Jackie tumbled out of the couch, shrieking. The cause of the noise, none other than Michael Kelso himself, jumped onto the couch before scooping up Jackie like a rag doll and plopping her on his lap. With a goofy grin plastered to his face, and his trucker cap facing one side of his face, he laughed heartily, "Oh man! Jackie, wait 'til I tell you all about tonight! It had all the elements! Love! Tragedy! Desire! As in, Fez loved a girl, but then it turned into a tragedy when she already had a boyfriend, and then to desire when her boyfriend desired to kick Fez's butt!" He laughed, going on and on about how Hyde was interested in a woman, only to discover in the men's restroom that she was underage and extremely unexperienced. Then he joked about how they had a flat tire on their way home, and how Hyde chased him around with a wrench in the middle of the freeway in pure darkness. He joked that he almost got ran over a couple times. He showed a very annoyed Jackie a bruise on his arm, saying Hyde threw the wrench at him. As soon as he was through, he laughed, "So what about you?"

Jackie glared at him, stating a matter-of-factly, "I _was_ having this dream!"

Kelso readjusted her on his lap, asking with an amused look, still thinking about his night, "About what?"

Jackie shrugged, thinking, a confused look on her face, "I don't know." But then a small smile worked its way up to her face, one that warmed Eric's lovesick heart as she giggled, "But I think I was kissed by a prince."

Kelso arched an eyebrow, "Was it me?"

Jackie looked over at him, confused once more, "I don't know. I forgot."

Eric's hopeful heart sunk to his feet. He felt like a complete idiot. And then Kelso looked over at him indifferently, "Oh! Hey, Eric! Did you hear about Fez and Hyde?" He started laughing at the thought of it.

With a tense look, Jackie turned her head to see Eric. Judging from the look over her face, it was obvious she had never even noticed he was there. The two locked eyes. And out of nowhere, her cheeks flushed a pinkish hue that lightened Eric's heart. Kelso didn't catch any of it as he got up, picking up Jackie as he did so. He laughed, "Well, I'll see you later Eric! Right now, Jackie needs her prince charming…" He added to what he thought was slyly, "and prince charming wants to do her good!"

Eric let a blank expression fall over his face. He didn't want Kelso to touch her. His instinct was to run over and punch Kelso right in the jaw, grab Jackie, and yank her to happily ever after. The only problem was, there was no happily ever after to take her, and if there was, he wouldn't be so bold to go after her.

Jackie managed to wrangle herself out of Kelso's grasp, and hopped out onto the floor, standing on her own two feet. He fixed her hair as best she could and gave Eric an awkward wave.

He returned it, equally as awkward.

Kelso grabbed Jackie's wrist and pulled her toward the door, "Me and Jackie gotta go now!" He then mumbled to his girlfriend, "C'mon! Or do I have to _carry_ you to the car?" A mischievous glint was in his eye.

Again Jackie twisted out of his hold, snapping at him, "I can walk, Michael! I know how your car looks like! Just-just gimme a second, okay?"

He shrugged dopily, "Alright, but hurry up will ya? It's cold out there!" He opened the door and trudged out into the chilled Wisconsin night, heading to his car that was parked in the driveway.

Back in the warmth of the basement, Eric found himself awkwardly rubbing his hands behind his head, his feet refusing to move near or away from Jackie. Jackie herself found that her entire body felt confused as to what exactly she was supposed to do. She didn't know why she yelled at Michael. She didn't know why she let him go off. She didn't know what there was to say to Eric.

Biting on her lower lip, the one that Eric had lightly grazed less than ten minutes ago, Jackie said in a strange voice, "So…you okay?"

He nodded, hoping she couldn't see how he was easily falling apart by the seams. She then nodded, feeling there was nothing else to say or do, "Okay…well, uh, goodnight!" Without thinking of what she was doing, she reached over and planted a small, almost lopsided kiss on his cheek. Eric couldn't help but blush madly. Seeing him had Jackie doing the same.

Aware of how dizzy she was feeling, Jackie backed into the radio by the door and spilled several records out onto the floor. Quickly yanking on her jacket, she sloppily turned around and bent over, yelping, "I'll get them!"

Eric's eyes nearly popped out of his skull as they took in the sight of her rear sticking out at him, less than two feet from his touch. Unable to control his own feet, he walked backwards and spilled onto Kelso's chair, breaking it as he crashed to the floor.

Jackie quickly spun around, placing the records back to their proper shelves and asking urgently, "Are you okay?! What happened?!"

Eric jumped back to his feet, ignoring the shooting pain in his left ankle as he blubbered out, "I-saw…you were-but then-we- I was looking at your….nothing! Nothing happened!"

She pointed at the ground, her eyes wide with shock, "Nothing happened?! You broke a chair!"

Eric forced himself to swallow, shaking his head, "Nah, it-it was already like that!"

Cautiously she walked over to the door, her back seemingly pasted to the wall as if her body suspected that it was the cause of his accident. She nodded unsurely, "Yeah…okay. Well, uh, I'll see you later, Eric."

He waved, the pain now reaching his knee as he said in a high pitched tone, "Yeah! Bye!"

As soon as she left, Eric toppled over to the couch, wanting to scream and cry in agony as he held onto his ankle which was quickly swelling. His hands rubbed his sweaty face, his breath calming as he tried to piece himself back together, "It's okay. It's okay man. Just, just get ahold of yourself…" He thought back to Jackie's bent rear when she was picking up the records. He groaned, his fingers pulling out his hair in frustration, "What's happening to me?!"

He collapsed on the couch, burying his face in the cushions that still held a light trace of Jackie's perfume. Eric rolled over, unable to stand being in his own agitated body. He closed his eyes shut, moaning, "This is not good."

* * *

 _This may or may not continue, I don't know. It was originally conceived as a one-shot, but after typing it, I feel there could be a multi-chapter story in here- somewhere._

 _Also, I don't own '70s, and I don't own Sleeping Beauty._


	2. Chapter 2

**2- The Dork She Wants Nothing to Do With**

His mother couldn't believe him when he explained how he sprained his ankle. There, in the Forman living room, with his leg propped up on several cushions on the couch, Eric explained once more as his mother instructed him to, "And then mom, I saw this rat. I freaked out, but knew I had to fight it off, so I grabbed a broom, and tripped, and fell onto the chair."

"Uh-huh," Kitty nodded, not quite able to bring herself to believe her son, "A rat? In the basement? After your father and I fumigated down there last Christmas?"

"Well, uh," Eric quickly lied, "It turns out, it wasn't a rat."

"What was it then?"

Eric said the first thing that popped into his head, "A basketball."

Kitty's eyes widened, "Basketball? Honey, you mean to tell me that you mistook a basketball for a rat?"

His mouth went dry, visions of Jackie's rear end flooding his teenage mind. He shook his head, mumbling, "Uh, well, it was dark."

Kitty's eyebrows tensed, worried. "Oh Eric, you don't look very healthy at the moment." She pressed the back of her hand against his head, checking his temperature the way her mother taught her. She pulled back, concerned, "You're a little hot, sweetie."

"I'm not sick!" He said at once, before lowering his eyes, unable to tell his mother the truth, "I'm just…not sick."

She nodded, feeling he was holding something back. She then rubbed his ankle gently saying, "I'm afraid you'll have to stay off it for a week."

He shrugged, his mind naturally going back to Jackie, and kissing her sleeping form, "Uh….okay…"

"Eric?"

He snapped out of it, "Huh?"

She nodded again, more worried than ever, "Try to stay in the 20th century, okay honey? I know you like that _Space Wars_ , but I just think it's preoccupying you're mind a little too much."

" _Star Wars_." He corrected immediately.

" _Star Wars_." She conceded before getting up to make him some hot cocoa.

As soon as she left, Kelso came flying in through the front door- a rarity for him. He pointed at Eric, growling, "Jackie told me what happened!"

Eric's green eyes widened, shock and shame of what happened the previous night mingled with how he was going to explain to his best friend that his feelings for his cheerleading girlfriend meant nothing. Before Eric could claim it wasn't him and that how could Jackie even know he liked to look at her, Kelso sat on the floor next to Eric, pouting, "Dude! How could you break my favorite chair in the basement?!"

For a moment, Eric was certain he misunderstood, "What?"

Kelso looked up at him, clarifying, "Don't try to deny it! Jackie told me you broke it!"

Letting out a relieved sigh, Eric let himself relax, "Oh yeah- _that_. Yeah, sorry."

Kelso then noticed his bandaged ankle and his eyes glistened in excitement, "Say Eric, were you jumping off the water tower too?!"

Recalling the night Kelso first fell off the water tower, and how they took him back to the Forman's only for Eric to catch his parents doing it, Eric cringed, "No Kelso. Now, let's change the subject!"

Kelso grinned, his head cocking back smugly, "Wanna hear what me and Jackie did last night?"

Slowly Eric turned his head.

Shrugging like it was nothing, Kelso smirked, "She was on fire. I never saw anything like it."

"Fire?" Eric gulped, leaning closer to what Kelso had to say.

Nodding, Kelso scratched his head, arrogantly smiling at Eric, "Want details, Mr. Virgin?"

"Will you quit it!" Eric groaned, upset that everyone in the basement knew about his and Donna's relationship and how it was limited to make-out sessions and rough kisses.

Kelso teased, "I could give you some tips for when Donna is ready to come around to your way of thinking."

"Oh, shut up." Eric grumbled, folding his arms across his chest.

Even though Eric never invited him to, Kelso couldn't help himself as he just had to brag to somebody, and since Eric had one foot out of commission and wasn't going anywhere, he knew it might as well be him, "So like, we go back to her place 'cause her folks are never around, right? It's just the staff, and they don't bother us. Y'know, the whole damn car ride she went on and on about this dream, but I didn't know what she was talking about! But when we got back to her room, she was practically begging me to help her relive it."

Eric sat forward, his ears peaked, "Dream? From the basement?"

"Yeah, yeah," he continued, "So anyway, she strips down to her underwear, and it's this tiny black thing with laces-"

Eric's heart melted.

"- and it matches her bra, right?" Kelso licked his lips, remembering it, "Then she wraps herself up in her white sheets on the bed. She tells me just to stand over her, and _look_ at her."

Eric quickly sat up, his brows tensing, "What?"

"I know right?" Kelso giggled, "So weird! Who knew Jackie was into stuff like that! So all I do is _look_ down at her, and she closes her eyes, saying that she is Sleeping Beauty and all I have to do is lean down and kiss her!"

Leaning more in, Eric asked, "Did you?"

Giggling some more, his brown eyes dancing happily, Kelso grinned, "Boy did I plant one on her! And out of nowhere, she pulls me into her bed! Like, you see how big I am and how short she is, right? And I was standing over her! So, who knew Jackie had that much strength!"

"She wanted it." Eric realized, his brow sweating all over again as he pictured himself with Jackie last night. How she would've pulled him. What they would've done between those white sheets…

"-So, there I was, right Eric? Her hands all over me, and I'm just kicking off my pants, itching to set the Apollo Rocket of Love into her Space Zone! But then she does something she's never done before!"

"What?"

" _She_ grabs _me_."

Eric was confused, "Grabs you?"

Kelso nodded slowly, his eyes darting down to his crotch area, as if he was trying to explain without saying it outright, "The Apollo Rocket, Eric…she just, she just grabbed it. And, man-oh-man, my blood was coursing all the way down south! But that wasn't enough for her! Look man, I don't know what that dream was about, but then she pounces on top of me- which was new. 'Cause, when we do it, it's me on top, like missionary all the way! But she was adamant that it was her that time, so I let her have me! And what was weird was that there was no foreplay or nothing! She just jumped on me and went! And dude, I had to do everything to keep myself together 'cause it was that _hot_! And then she was screaming for me to kiss her. And Jackie never screams during takeoff, so I was like, 'Know what? I'll give you dirtiest kiss you ever had, you little minx!' And then we kissed!" Kelso's excited smile fell off his face as he recollected, "But then she slowed down on the thrusting, and her lips tensed up. She pulled back from me like I was a complete stranger. And then she just climbed off me, as if I bombed out! I couldn't figure it out, man! And her eyes, Eric… they were so disappointed! Then she just pulled her clothes back on and asked me to leave! So I left, big deal…" Kelso glumly looked down, shrugging sadly, "Whatever. I don't need her to have a good time."

Eric himself didn't know what to think of the story. He leaned back, about to say something that his brain hadn't pieced together yet when Hyde and Donna came inside the living room. Both looked down at him, and the first to speak was a concerned Donna, "Eric! What happened?" She knelt beside him so close that he could see the anxiety in her green eyes.

Instantly he felt a pang of guilt for his feelings for Jackie. Wishing for the affections of another woman when he already had Donna must've made him no better than Kelso. Unable to stand the twisting of his guts, he turned away from her, ashamed of himself, "I…fell."

She looked at his ankle, gently touching his knee instead, asking, "How? At Price-Mart?"

He shrugged, "No. Here. I thought I saw…" He couldn't bring himself to tell the lies he told his mother. He shook his head, sighing, "Nothing. It doesn't matter."

Behind them, stood the passive figure that was Steven Hyde. With a shaking of the head, his aviator shielded eyes checked Eric's leg to make sure it was only a sprain. Then he stepped forward, pretending the whole situation was indifferent to him, especially since he and Eric almost had a fight about Donna confiding in Hyde more than Eric.

"Damn Forman. Can't even be left alone for two minutes without hurting yourself. Typical kid."

Donna glared up at him, "Leave him alone."

Her words seemed to have hurt him, and his body shifted ever so slightly away from the couch.

Kitty soon came in, with a tray of assorted cookies and hot cocoa for everyone. Kelso thanked her heartily, saying that he needed a good meal- especially since some "maniac" attacked him with a wrench.

Doing her best not to eye Steven, Kitty asked Kelso patiently, "Well, were you behaving correctly toward this maniac?"

Kelso looked down, shrugging, "Maybe not…I guess."

For an hour, the four teens stayed in the living room, using it as a surrogate basement. Finally, Donna asked Kelso and Hyde, "So where's Fez?"

Hyde sighed, darting an evil look Kelso's way, "He got beat up by some tramp's boyfriend while this moron here ran off to hide in the restroom." Hyde then showed them all his cut knuckles, informing them, "Fez is recuperating with his host parents… but not before I taught that guy not to pick on 'im."

Donna seemed impressed by this action, and it was hard for Eric not to notice the way her eyebrows arched up with genuine pride. For a brief moment, Eric wondered if he and Donna were in a relationship that never should've been, but was created because it was convenient. She was right next door to him, he was right next door to her…and neither had done much looking outside their own backyards for a partner. Then he wondered if it was lazy love that they both settled on, simply because the other was twenty feet away.

And now that his mind was on the subject of love, he asked Kelso quite suddenly, "And where's Jackie?"

Kelso seemed surprised that Eric asked such a thing, but then he told him, "I dunno. I went by her mansion earlier, but her maid said she took off." He broke into a soft grin, his eyes choosing to stare down at the ground instead of looking Eric in the eye, "Whatever, right?"

Hyde curiously looked down at Eric, " _Where's Jackie?_ Why would you even care, Forman?"

Donna stood up, her hands on her hips, "Okay, that's it! Kelso, Hyde- out. Eric doesn't need to be hassled about relationship problems right now." She ushered out the two grumbling boys before returning back to Eric. Eric couldn't even say a "thank you" before Donna arched her eyebrow, "Why were you asking about Jackie?"

He gulped.

Damn Hyde.

"Oh, I was just… it was that… I-I was uh-" His face was betraying him, turning from a light shade of pink to a bright shed of red threateningly fast. And then something happened: The front door opened, and in stepped in Jackie Burkhart herself.

Eric's heart flopped inside his chest as he let out a strangled breath through his nose. And then he heard Donna murmur, "Speak of the devil."

Jackie turned around, smiling at them both, oblivious of the tension that was suddenly mounting between the couple in front of her, "Hey guys! Have you seen Michael? I, uh," Her eyes darted to a corner of the room as she pushed herself to admit, "I was sort of rude to him last night…and this morning. I just needed some time for myself to sort something out."

Eric noticed his girlfriend was a little icy when she asked, "Oh? What was it you need to sort out?"

The cheerleader forced out a smile, her eyes oddly plastic as she stared at Donna, "Oh, nothing!"

The redhead tilted her head, amazed that Jackie hadn't taken the opportunity to ramble on about her life. With warning prickles sliding down her back, Donna let out a breath from her nose, her eyes going between Eric- who looked guilty, and then to Jackie- wearing wide eyes and a pleasant smile to the point that she looked like a real plastic Barbie doll. This was the moment Donna knew it: Something was happening. She didn't know what, but she could sense it.

Jackie smiled a little too tight when she announced that she was heading for the kitchen. As her figure disappeared behind the kitchen door, Donna flatly asked Eric, "Okay, I'm not stupid. What the hell is going on?"

"Nothing, my love!"

"Eric don't…don't lie to me."

"I-I'm not-" His flushed face was now going pale. If Donna deduced the truth of his feelings, she would tell _everyone_. He didn't think he'd be able to face the humiliation of it, or Kelso for that matter.

She sat down in red's pea-green chair, scooting closer to her boyfriend on the couch, "I think I deserve the truth here. Now, something is happening, and I can't piece it together, which is rare for me, I'll add. So what it is it?" She then eyed his ankle, "Does it have anything to do with your injury?"

'Dammit', Eric thought, 'Why did Donna have to be so smart?' It was like trying to throw a bloodhound off the trail of a dead rabbit. He forced the biggest smile he could muster, lying straight through his teeth, "It's nothing! I love you!"

Her eyes flickered in complete doubt. And to Eric's surprise, she told him darkly, "And I love cake." She then jumped out of the chair and barged into the kitchen, causing a coffee-making Jackie to squeak.

Donna pointed a finger at her, snarling, "I've known you for less than two years, but I know enough to tell that something is going on with you and Eric."

Jackie's face dropped. Visions of her spending her mornings and nights, talking to herself in the mirror, imagining herself and Eric wrapped up in each other's arms, their lips gently tracing the folds of the other, their breaths mingled together, so soft and sweet…

Immediately a panicked Jackie screeched, "I have no idea what you're talking about, Pinciotti! I don't even _like_ Eric! He's-He's bony and-and skinny and-and dumb!"

Donna mocked her, " _And-And_ I know something's up!"

Jackie dumped way more creamer than she cared for in her coffee by the time she slammed it on the counter and shouted loudly enough for Eric to hear in the next room, "Eric Forman is a DORK and I want NOTHING to do with him, okay?!"

Not even bothering with taking a sip from her creamy coffee, the cheerleader rolled her eyes- which appeared to Donna that she was withholding tears- and barged out the sliding door from the kitchen.

Still upset, but calming down, Donna turned herself back into the living room, where Eric was laying oddly still. It appeared that he was afraid to move, as if he would break. But Donna's anger ebbed away when she caught the hurt look in his eyes. He shrugged sadly toward her, softly joking, "She thinks I'm a dork and wants nothing to do with me. Huh, I guess it's a good thing we're not even real friends, right?"

Donna shoved her hands in her pockets, chewing on her lower lip and unable to look Eric in the eye, "Um, sure."

At that moment, Kitty walked in from the kitchen carrying a plate of cookies and cocoa, "The boys are downstairs in the basement, and they tried to convince me to let them gobble up all the cookies, could you imagine?! I spent a whole ten minutes swatting them off, saving the last few for my baby boy!" Noticing the young couple's quietness, she placed the tray on the counter, encouraging them softly, "Whatever it is, a chocolate chip cookie and a warm glass of cocoa will make it better."


	3. Chapter 3

**3- Counting the Minutes**

She crashed through the French doors on the left entrance of her home, ignoring the startling glances of the maids as she tore past them and flew straight to the kitchen. While there, she ignored the cook who simply stared at a brunette young woman desperately searching through the top pantry counter. Eventually Jackie reemerged from the pantry, a glass of 1953 red wine in one hand, a corkscrew in the other. She hastily undid the cork, and didn't even bother with a glass as she drank it straight from the bottle. The cook, who had been slicing carrots for that day's dinner, had slowed her mincing.

"Miss Burkhart? Could I help-"

Jackie told her hysterically, "I blew it! _I blew it!_ I called him a dork! I said I wanted nothing to do with him! And on my way here I realized something…. _He Was In The Room Right Next To Us!_ He probably heard everything! And now we're back at square one!"

"Square one?"

Jackie nodded, taking another swig, "For the past two weeks we were actually nice to each other! And now…" Her eyes drifted off to the side vacantly.

Pam Burkhart entered the kitchen, a glass of shardinay in her hand as she saw her cook pausing at her work and staring at Jackie oddly. Pam snapped for the cook to continue before turning to Jackie, saying loudly enough for the cook to hear, "Honey, how many times do I have to tell you? Don't fraternize with the help!" Over her shoulder, Pam instructed the cook, "My husband will be staying in Japan an extra week, so set the dinner placement for two again."

Jackie looked up at her mother, half-hiccupping and wiping the stray tear that got away from her, "Why's daddy staying in Japan? Didn't he already wrap up that business investment by now?"

Pam shrugged, her expression glazed, "He wants to whore around over there. He words it differently, believing I'm too stupid to piece it together, but there's only so many ways to skin a cat."

Simultaneously, both mother and daughter took another swig from their respective alcoholic beverages before leaving the kitchen, the daughter with her mother's arm slung loosely over her shoulders.

-{}{_}{}-

Three Weeks Later:

The Basement:

"So what? Jackie's been gone for three weeks. We should be celebrating!" Hyde snorted, kicking his feet up on top of the spindle table. He slowly moved his fists in the air, his lips curved in a hidden smile.

Kelso shrugged glumly.

Fez mimed Kelso.

And Donna said the exact same sentence she's been saying for days, "I scared her off."

Hyde nodded, trying to get the others to join, "Yeah! Good job, Donna!"

The redhead glared at him, "Hyde, I feel like a fucking monster! I scared off a non-threatening, five foot, hundred pound High School cheerleader who still sleeps with stuffed animals!" She then slouched in her seat, feeling guiltier by the second, "She's just a little girl, you know?"

Hyde assured her, "She was an annoyance."

"Like, two years ago she was still in pigtails!"

The stoner sighed, looking over at Donna seriously, "Yup, two years ago she sported pigtails and was as flat as a board…and now she's all grown up, with the makeup, curves and attitude to back her up."

"What're you saying, Hyde?" Donna asked darkly, her anger threatening to flare back up.

He said softly, his hand over hers, "Children grow up. That's all I'm saying, kid."

A small smile formed on her lips. She was seventeen years old, and yet Hyde still called her 'kid.' It was an old nickname he gave her when he tried reassuring her of something, and for some reason, at this very moment, it comforted her to no end.

Donna was quiet for a moment before admitting, "I was an idiot. My temper got away from me- _again_ …" She told Hyde, "I just never realized how insecure I was, to imagine that something was going on between Jackie and Eric."

Kelso whirled his head around, "What d'ya mean, Big D?"

Even Fez's ears perked up as Donna sighed, shaking her head, "Eric was acting weird. And then Jackie came in. And then Jackie was acting weird. And the air was so thick with this heaviness, like something was swimming in it, but I couldn't identify it, and it was just grating on my nerves because I usually figure things out, right? And when I can't, I just…I lose it."

Kelso tried to piece it together, "Heavy air? So…like someone cut the cheese?"

Donna rolled her eyes as Fez asked her seriously, "Be honest Donna, was it you?"

Swatting Fez's shoulder, the tomboy ignored her two goofy friends and eyed Hyde, "I'm imagining it, right?" She then shook her head, convincing herself, "I've known Eric for a lifetime and he wouldn't keep anything from me!" She then nodded, a forced smile on her face, "It's me. My mind…I'm just imagining things."

Leaning back in his seat, taking into consideration Donna's words, Hyde said slowly, "…one should always trust their instincts."

Soon they heard the creaking of the steps and were joined by a newly commissioned Eric Forman. Fez was practically beaming, "Oh Eric! You can walk again!"

Eric gave him a strange look, "Uh Fez, I have been walking around for three days now."

"I know, but you have been gone for so long, I forgot you lived here."

Donna smiled at her foreign friend, "How could you forget that? The mailbox says 'Forman'."

He shrugged, "I dunno, I have been busy."

Hyde smirked, "Doing what?"

Fez flashed them all his 'this is my sexy grin' smile and wiggled with his shoulders, "Being Fez-ilicious!"

Everyone tried not to smile, but all were failing miserably. Eric then asked why Donna, Fez and Kelso were all crammed on the couch. But soon he regretted it as Kelso pointed out, "You broke my chair with yer basketball rat!"

Hyde's neck cracked as he whipped it toward Eric like lightning, "Forman, what the hell is a basketball rat?"

Eric lied to all of them, doing his best to add in so many details that he began to convince himself it was the truth. That was until Fez pointed out, "Uh, but Eric, the basketballs are kept in the garage- not down here."

The regular basement chatter died down into noticeable silence, the remaining four waiting for Eric to explain the hole in his story. Awkwardly the skinny teen cleared his throat, saying that he had to quickly run upstairs to finish some homework. As he left, Kelso looked at his friends, "Man, I didn't know we had homework!"

Hyde stared at him through his darkened aviators, "We don't."

Kelso challenged him, "And how do you know?!"

Both Hyde and Donna said the exact same sentence, "Because it's the summer." Then their heads turned to face one another, both silently communicating to each other as Fez and Kelso discussed who had the hottest mom in the neighborhood.

{}-{_}-{}

Eric tore up the basement steps trying to get as far away from his friends as physically possible. How could he have been so dumb as to forget that the basketballs were always placed in the garage? Why couldn't he have said that the rat turned out to be the stupid helmet? Or a real rat!?

 _His swallowed a difficult lump down his throat. His eyes had just caught sight of her blouse. It only had three buttons, but all three were unclipped. He slowly slid to the right. His whole body both tensed and relaxed at the sight of her slight cleavage. He had to strain his eyes to see it, but it was enough to make his hands tingle again. It was enough to make every part of tingle._

Dammit.

He was thinking about that night with Jackie again. Why was it that nowadays all he seemed to be thinking about was a petite brunette cheerleader?

He made it to the driveway, pulling himself into the Vista Cruiser and slamming the driver's door shut. He smacked his head on the steering wheel, reprimanding himself, "She hates you! Jackie clearly said she wants nothing to do with you! And how could you blame her? Your scrawny, your nerdy-" He eyed himself in the rearview mirror, slinking miserably in his seat, "What are you doing? You have a girlfriend. This…what we're feeling is wrong!"

" _Oh God." He mumbled. He was helpless. What was he going to do? He wanted so desperately to run his hands all over her, to caress her, to pepper her body in his burning kisses, and heaven help him, to make sweet love to her._

The visions of that night were creeping back to him, as they had every night since, except now it was getting worse. Now it was happening in broad daylight. With the palms of his hands, he smacked his temples, cursing himself, "Stop it!"

 _His body just took off without his command. He knelt right by her, his eyes now loving the part of her he wanted to caress the most: Her face. Such a beautiful face. With lips that slightly pouted in her sleep, cheeks that rounded as if displaying her youth, and eyes so sensual that even closed made his knees go weak._

He gave himself another smack, crying out, " **Stop it**!" He slunk in the seat, the visions terrorizing him, making his blood pump in his body so hard he had to suck in large gulps of air to accommodate his now crumbling form.

 _Without realizing what he was doing, his hand slowly reached out, and touched her dark locks of hair._

"Oh no…" He breathed, covering his face in his hands, "Please, don't do it. You have Donna… think of what these feelings will do to your relationship…to your friends!"

 _He didn't trust himself to even touch her skin, partly afraid of the wild frenzy it would give him._

But the visions of that night were too strong. He remembered every color, every shadow, every contour of her face. It was all replaying in his mind with such sharp clarity. Sweat dripped down the tip of his nose as he exhaled slowly, "Shit…."

 _And before he could stop himself, he called out to her in low whisper, "Jackie…"_

His fingers were scraping his own skull, his voice unusually low as he whispered, "Jackie…"

"Yeah?"

His eyes snapped open and he toppled out of the car head first. His chin crashed into the concrete of the driveway as his eyes adjusted to the pink pair of laced shoes right in front of him. Quickly he stood up, rubbing his now throbbing chin as he backed into the stations wagon, squeaking, "Jackie! You…you're here!"

Her eyes darkened slightly, betraying her confusion as she pointed questioningly at his car, "Why were you calling my name in there?"

"I wasn't!" He lied, his ears burning red.

"Eric, the windows were down. I heard you."

He shook his head, his tongue suddenly thick, "Umbla, da-ghah, lalla…bah."

The cheerleader asked him seriously, "Are you having a stroke?" She took a step towards him, "Blink if you understand me!"

All his eyes were as wide as they could get, and not a single blink passed between them. Finally Eric managed to choke out, "You…you want nothing to do with me."

Jackie froze.

He began to nod, anger now taking the place of embarrassment, "Yeah! What're you doing here anyhow?! I mean, you wouldn't want to be seen at the home of a dork like me, now would you?!"

"Eric-" She began, but he hotly cut her off, "I understood that!"

And then, out of nowhere, she snapped at him, "Well it wasn't my fault! Your stupid girlfriend cornered me in the kitchen!"

"Leave my stupid girlfriend out of this! She wasn't controlling the words that were coming out of your mouth!"

"And why do you care so much?!"

He shouted at her, "I dunno! Why do you?!"

"Well, I don't!"

"Okay, well then I don't either!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

She crossed her arms, huffing, "FINE!"

Eric threw up his arms, "DANDY!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, she turned her heel and headed towards the basement. Eric grabbed her arm, growling, "Wait a minute! Where do you think you're going, missy?"

"To the basement." She said through gritted teeth slowly, as if she were speaking to a five year old.

"Well, well, well…" He fumbled before saying harshly, "Maybe you're not allowed!"

She yanked her arm away from him in a way that made his heart leap. She was pissed, and he knew it, and there was something so oddly attractive about it. She got on her tiptoes, just so she could shove her face an inch away from his. She looked dangerously close to flipping him on his back, and in his opinion, she'd never looked hotter. Before he could put his foot in his mouth by commenting about it, she told him warningly, her voice low and husky, her eyes darting down to his lips, "I'm allowed. I'm Jackie Burkhart, and I go where I want to go, and I get what I want to get."

Her eyes then slowly moved to meet his, as if daring him to object.

Suddenly Eric felt extremely flushed in the face and his only cure was to take a step back, waving toward the basement entrance on the side of the house, "Uh, sure. You can go…but not because you intimidated me or anything! It's just that… well, uh…I think the gang missed you."

She gave him a small smirk, her eyes light as if in a smile all their own. She then spun around in that special way that made her skirt lift, almost like a ballerina. What she did next she herself couldn't believe. She had still felt his eyes on her, and before she could stop herself, she gave a small wiggle of her hips, almost as if inviting him to pounce on her.

Doing her best not to turn around, she entered the basement to the cheers of Kelso and Fez, the apologies Donna kept assuring weren't "real" but in fact were, and the "boos" of Hyde.

Meanwhile, still in the driveway stood Eric, eyes wide, face pale, and breathing erratically. If he hadn't known any better, he'd swear up and down that Jackie liked him. More than a friend "like." It was a special "like." It was the kind of like that led to bigger likes and possibly love. But then he thought of Donna, and soon his friends. He remembered that the cheerleader was with one of his closest friends.

And that was when his high hopes deflated and he sighed, "Damn."

He then reentered the basement, where Jackie was explaining that since school was going to start up next term, she encouraged (secretly she was forcing them against their will, threatening them with a glare of her eyes) the gang to attend the football games.

Hyde grumbled, crossing his arms, "Why the hell would I want to go there? To see a bunch of pom-pom waving bimbos ogle a few stupid bastards as they pummel the brains out of each other? All for a stupid ball?"

Kelso agreed, telling his girlfriend, "Yeah! Nothing fun ever happens at those things!"

Donna smirked at Kelso, "Maybe you should make it fun, Kelso. You should streak."

The youngest member of the group glared at her boyfriend, "Don't you dare think about it, Michael!" She then turned on Donna, "And you! Bite your tongue."

Donna rolled her eyes, but felt obligated not to say anything further.

Fez, who had been nervously fidgeting with his hands, finally confessed, "The football players hate me. And now you wish me to go to their kingdom- the football field? I cannot, for if I do, Fez will die. Can you imagine a world without Fez?" He continued, his voice darkening melodramatically, "A world without laughter… a world without love… a world without foreign accents…would there still be hope without him? We will never know."

Kelso smirked, "Would we have more candy without him gobbling it all up? The answer is _yes_!"

Jackie swatted both Kelso and Fez on the shoulder, whining, "C'mon guys! You never go to any of my games!"

"That's because we see you enough." Hyde scoffed, "If anything, we're trying to find ways to see less of you."

As Jackie narrowed her eyes across the basement to the stoner in the white chair, Eric raised a hand, "Okay guys, let's calm down for a second." Jackie then looked over at him, and he let himself smile as he told his friends, "I'm sure one game won't kill us."

She turned back to the gang, smiling, "Homecoming is in a month- don't miss it."

Hyde sarcastically proclaimed, "I'm counting the minutes!"


	4. Chapter 4

~One quick thing: The italicized stuff in the beginning is Jackie's POV, but the rest is in 3rd person. Apologizing for spelling errors or typos in advance, wrote this pretty quickly.

* * *

 **4- Homecoming, Prt. 1**

-10:16 PM-

 _I'm messing everything up. I've messed everything up… I'm a walking wreck. A well dressed, polished and poised wreck, but a wreck none the less. Because, I did something so incredibly stupid and I can't even have the luxury of blaming drugs, or alcohol or insanity behind it._

 _(Letting out a deep sigh) Yes…I kissed Eric Forman. And the look in his eyes when we pulled apart…I think I ruined everything._

 _Oh, how did it get this far?_

September 9th, 1977:

-6:04 PM-

It was a Friday. And even though the weather girl assured everyone that it would be a damp and humid evening- it was anything but. The air was dry and cold. It was the special type of cold, between needing a jacket and living in one. And though it wasn't snowing, a few of the citizens of Point Place suspected it would any moment now.

The High School football field, Milbanks Stadium was an echo of Dan Milbank's former factory. The stadium was constructed in 1965 as an honor to him for bringing jobs to the town. But since his departure, and timely departure, the stadium was now a target for angry teenagers to tag the steel bleachers or set fire to the field in the middle of summer. It was their way of having someone or something to take out their anger on, now that their parents were out of work. And though Eric would never admit it, he, Hyde, Kelso and Donna once threw baseballs at all the lights of the stadium. They didn't break all of them, but they got a few.

Okay, so maybe it was Hyde and Donna who were the ones who got a few, but it sure as hell made Kelso and Eric feel better, seeing as how Milbanks laid off both their fathers. But all that took place a year before. And a lot seemed to change between then and now.

Rarely showing their school spirit, the gang was there for Homecoming. They could be spotted, up in the bleachers, their legs shaking and their bodies cold, sat the gang, minus Jackie. Hyde glared at anyone who passed them down below, grunting how everyone was such a sap for coming to a football game in 40 degree weather.

Donna could only roll her eyes at him, "40 degrees isn't so bad. There have been times the thermometers nearly choked at hitting below zero. And besides, wouldn't you be included as a sap for coming to this game?"

Hyde's eyes darted at her, his cold hands shoving themselves deeper in the corners of his armpits for warmth as he snickered, "Yeah, well I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for your boyfriend- Mr. All-For-One."

On the other side of Donna, Eric took off his ear muffs and pointed at Hyde, "Hey! We are here to support Jackie!"

Leaning over to whisper in Donna's ear, Hyde's hot breath tickled her ear as he told her, "Support Jackie? Be careful about this." Before Donna could inquire what Hyde meant by this, Donna felt someone cuddling with her leg. When she looked down, she saw Fez, shaking and shivering, "Aye, it is so cold! I cannot feel my legs! Or my hands! Or my manhood!"

"Fez, let go of me before I kick your ass." Was Donna's only statement.

Fez cried, looking at Kelso, "I am trying to cuddle for warmth! Oh, how Fez always knew he would die at the football field, but never like this! I had imagined being bludgeoned to death by angry, football playing fists!"

Donna kicked her leg away from him, warning him, "Keep your hands to yourself, or it still might happen."

Eric reminded everyone, "Donna plays football-"

Kelso threw up one arm, the other securely holding onto his nachos as he shouted, "Donna plays football! Donna plays basketball! Donna can read! Big deal, Eric! I'm tired of hearing about how great Donna is!"

Eric gave him a strange look, admitting a bit too fast, "Kelso, I haven't been talking about how great Donna is."

He looked up at Eric, scratching his head, "You haven't? Well, who was I talking to yesterday?"

"You were talking to me, you dope." Donna retorted, rolling her eyes at him.

"Oh." Kelso then repeated his previous movements, saying, "Donna plays football! Donna plays basketball! Donna can read! Big deal, Donna! I'm tired of hearing how great you are!"

Donna rolled her eyes, looking over at Hyde, "I can't believe these are my friends." As Hyde chuckled, taking a sip from his Coke, Eric looked over at the other side of the field. The opposing team's fans were decked out in bright yellow and black. And for some reason, they seemed close to hostile.

Eric kept his eyes on them, asking his friends, "Who are we playing against?"

"Idiots." Was Hyde's grumpy reply.

Donna shrugged, "West Lake."

Kelso's eyebrows were raised, "West Lake? As in the town with an average homicide rate of at least seven unsolved murder cases a year? That West Lake?!" He then stood up, "Guys, I'm outta here, like, those people are nuts!"

Donna and Hyde pulled him back down, Hyde grumbling, "We can't show 'em our fear."

"Who said that?! One of the victims of their unsolved murder cases!" Kelso bellowed, obviously growing frantic in a way his friends were unaccustomed to seeing.

"Wait a minute…" Fez shivered, his breath an icy cloud that floated from his lips, "Was not West Lake the home of The Two-Wheeled Demons, the motorcycle gang that terrorizes community leaders and has a huge drug ring?"

"Yup." Hyde nodded, "My mom used to date one of their members. When I was 14, I got lippy with him, and he whacked me across the face with a chain as thick as my wrist. Ma arrived just in time to pull him off me, but he didn't like that. He whacked her a few times and she ran to the neighbors to phone the cops." After a moment he told them, "Later she took me to the hospital and actually apologized about the whole thing. One of the rare times ma showed she cared about me."

Kelso shook his head, "That settles it! Guys, I say we grab some more nachos before we hit the road and get the heck outta here before stuff gets wild!"

Donna folded her arms across her chest, "I doubt anything's going to happen. In case you haven't noticed, the Vikings are playing The West Lake Bumble Bees, not the Two-Wheeled Demons!"

"Well, I guess Bumble Bees aren't so bad. Like, the name sounds harmless." Fez consented, looking reassuringly at a still skeptical Kelso. "Exactly." Donna nodded before popping in a handful of buttered popcorn in her mouth. She then looked over at Eric, "Right, honey?" After he didn't respond, she asked again, "Right?...Hello, Eric?" While Kelso and Fez smirked their amusement away, Donna tapped Eric's shoulder, "Earth to Eric, come in Eric."

By now the whole gang was staring at Eric, whose attention seemed fixated out on the football field. Finally, Fez asked the group in a harsh whisper, "Is he a zombie?" Hyde followed Eric's gaze steadily. If he didn't know any better, he'd say that Eric was staring at the cheerleaders. Without missing a beat, Hyde said, "Must be tough for Jackie, Kelso. She's running around in that little uniform of hers, probably freezing her ass off."

From the look on Kelso's face, he seemed puzzled, "Jackie? Uh, I guess. I thought she had like special leggings or something to keep her warm."

Then the National Anthem was played by the school band. Both football teams were out on the field, bowing their heads in silence as the rest of the fans stood in the bleachers to pay their respects.

As everyone in their seats rose, Eric looked over to the gang suddenly, "What's happening?"

Hyde snorted, "Star Spangled Banner, detective."

Eric rose to his feet, unaware of the incredulous look the other three were giving him.

-7:30 PM-

Eric had no idea what the score was, or what quarter is was, or what exactly was happening out on the field. He just seemed more preoccupied with the girls on the sidelines, especially one particular brunette. Judging from the way she kept rubbing her hands together, they way she shivered and even the way she didn't seem to talk as much, she was freezing. Eric had the urge to just run down the bleachers and go up to her, giving over his jacket. He smiled at the thought. She would be warm, because of him.

He was jolted out of his fantasy by a violent shove. When he looked to see what happened, his eyes were met with a very ticked off Donna. He blinked, the reality of his current relationship crashing down around him.

"Uh…."

Donna narrowed her eyes at him, "What the hell, Eric? We left for the restrooms, asking you to save our seats while we were gone! We come back, and find some random guys sitting in them! Hyde had to threaten them and I almost toppled down the stands, and meanwhile you're here- not a care in the friggin' world- while all this is happening!"

Kelso nodded, a new batch of nachos in his hands, "Yeah dude! What the hell!"

Fez pouted, "Those guys were tough. If Donna hadn't been here, I would've just gotten a new seat."

Eric gulped, not realizing he had goofed, "Oh. Sorry."

Hyde rubbed his bruised knuckles, sarcastically grumbling, "Sorry? Psh, yeah that makes all the difference."

Eric had had enough. He stood up, shouting at Hyde, "That's it! Dude, what the hell is you're problem? You've been giving me this bad attitude for weeks-"

Hyde glared at him, "You really want me to say it? In front of everyone?"

"There's nothing to say!"

"I'm not so sure, Forman."

Donna gently pushed Hyde back, telling him, "Look, we're all a little pissed right now, but leave him alone. He's just….I don't know. His head is somewhere else."

Hyde smiled. It was fake, it was angry and it was a hurt smile. He shook his head, "Unbelievable. The signs are all there but you just ignore them, and stay by his side, defending him." He shook his head, a dark chuckle escaping his lips as he sat down, "Man, whatever."

Everyone sat back down, an eerie silence falling over them. Then they heard the announcer echo from above them, "Vikings touchdown! Vikings 12 to West Lake Bumble Bees 2! Wow, this is one of the fastest games we ever played, and it's a slaughter!"

A sudden aggravated stirring from the opposing team was heard. Even the football players seemed angry. The Viking fans were sure to keep their cheers to a minimum.

-9:24 PM-

"How long is this stupid game gonna be on?" Hyde snickered, trying to control the chattering of his jaw.

"It's already the fourth quarter." Donna reassured him.

Kelso glanced at the scoreboard, "We're winning. Can you believe it? The one time I actually want us to lose!" Everyone muttered their agreement, Hyde in particular recalling the last time West Lake lost a football game. It was to a school in Kenosha. By the time West Lake left, they didn't even leave a trees standing as they demolished the entire school. Kelso continued, rubbing his trembling hands, "We couldn't win a single game for the past two seasons! And now when our lives depend on it, the Vikings mess it up! Now, I bet you anything, after the game those crazy bee fans over there are gonna set fire to our cars and try to kill us!"

As soon as he said it, the announcer shouted, "TOUCH DOWN! That settles it folks! Vikings win!" Kelso glumly watched the final seconds tick off the screen, "Guys, if we live through this, I want to tell you that I love you guys." Fez agreed, his brown eyes on the now angry herd of bumble bee fans that looked like a mob, "All of you are fine young men."

Donna rolled her eyes, "Dude, what the hell!"

Fez nodded, "Even you, Donna."

She rolled her eyes once more, "Look, nothing is going to happen! We're at a football game! Half the town is here! We're as safe as can be-"

Then they heard loud chanting followed by a huge explosion. Everyone on the Point Place Vikings side stood perfectly still as their eyes slowly glazed over to the other side of the stadium. What they saw was enough to make Fez faint. For dozens upon dozens of fans were climbing over the stands, knocking down police officers and running straight to the other side of the field, shouting strange rampant words. And tons of bottle rockets were spinning at them, obviously brought by one of the Bumble Bee's fans. It was literally a sea of angry yellow and black tumbling right to them, with loud bangs and zipping fire emanating from their ranks. Kelso screamed in panic, "They're headed right toward us! We're gonna die!"

At that moment, the West Lake fans collided into the stands of the Vikings fans, shouting profanities and punching people in the face. Up on top, the gang was paralyzed in fear. And then Eric saw it. The football players of West Lake began beating up the football players from Point Place. And a few of the other West Lake players began chasing the Point Place cheerleaders around the field, shouting about how they would "show them a good time." Among those being chased was Jackie.

"Jackie!" Eric shouted, already racing down the stands only for Hyde to stop him by grabbing a handful of his collar, "Forman, what the hell do you think you're doing?! You can't run blindly into a mob like that!"

"Jackie!" Was all he could say as he frantically pointed at the field.

Kelso had picked up Fez's unconscious body and told Hyde seriously, "Dude, we need to get the hell outta here! It's Spartacus all over again, man!"

Hyde grumbled something before nodding, "Fine, let's go."

Eric yanked himself free, "But Jackie!"

Hyde grabbed his arms, snarling, "Is that the only word you know?!"

As they tried to go down the stands, a few deranged West Lake fans jumped in front of them. Before Hyde could punch them across the face, Donna jumped in front and pushed them down the bleachers. As they scrambled to get to the bottom and run toward the Vista Cruiser, Eric managed to pull himself free, shaking his head, "We need to save Jackie!"

Hyde pulled his hair, shouting, "FINE!" He searched through Eric's jacket, tossing the keys to the station wagon to Donna, instructing her, "Make sure Kelso and Fez make it the wagon safe. Me and the broken tape recorder will go find Jackie."

Donna nodded, her eyes on Eric as she said hollowly, "Of course. Go get her."

With a final node, Donna tugged Kelso and Fez one way as Hyde and Eric raced toward the field. They climbed a flimsy gate before jogging across the cross country track that was the circumference of the field. When they past the twenty yard line, a West Lake player who managed to knock down to a pulp three Vikings players now set his sights on Hyde and Eric, and Eric froze. His eyes were pried open as the football player ran right at him on a straight on tackle.

Eric could only imagine what his father would be thinking if he saw him now, a trembling muddle of unmanliness. But before he had the chance to make out his last will and testament mentally, Hyde rammed himself at the player, and both toppled to the ground.

Eric blinked, noticing how neither were moving. It looked as though that was it for the paranoid stoner. And then there was a low groan, and Hyde slowly stood back up on shaky legs. Rubbing his chest, his cold breath visible for all to see, he joked, "Look at that… I could've been a football player. Just another regular, chest pounding, low brain celled gorilla."

"Hyde-"

"Forman, I'll be fine. Just go grab the mosquito so we can all g-get the hell outta here…" Hyde panted, staggering toward the goal posts. Eric nodded, running straight toward a vamped up brunette who was fleeing from two West Lake football players.

He was never a good runner, seeing as how his chest and feet would always throb at the most inopportune times, but this time Eric willed himself not to care as he sprinted to her as fast as he possibly could. Almost immediately he grabbed her arm roughly, causing her to squeal. But as soon as she saw that it was him, her face was awash with relief.

"Eric! The-The game- the people went psycho!"

"Clearly!"

Hand in hand, together they ran, the two football players gaining speed on their heels. When they reached the gate, Eric mustered all his strength to practically toss Jackie over the gate, and clumsily threw himself over it as well. He toppled to the ground, his knee slamming against the cold pavement. He let out a yelp, as Jackie snatched the sleeve of his jacket and hurried him toward the back of the stadium, toward a wooded area.

He shook off the pain of his knee, fully knowing the two football players could easily hop over the fence and still chase after them.

Led by Jackie, Eric forced himself to sprint toward a place he never ever wanted to venture inside of- the woods. Hearing the chaos behind them subside, all the screaming calming to a fault as police sirens could be heard off in the distance, Jackie pulled Eric aside, forcing him to crouch down.

"What-What are we-"

"Eric, shut up!" She cried out frantically. He was about to ask why until he heard footsteps and cocky jeering. The West Lake football players had followed them into the forest.

One laughed, "Aw, aint that cute. The little brat had a boyfriend! He thinks he can play hero!"

The other clapped his hands, as if coaxing a scared rabbit to hop away from it's hiding place, "C'mon you little sexy thing. Come out, come out, wherever you are. We won't hurt you…"

From around the corner of the tree, Jackie's eyes widened in horror as she watched the two exchange malicious smirks, "Well, not much. You might get to like it after awhile."

The other one disappeared behind some brush, his voice echoing, "But not yer boyfriend. Naw, I think we'll hurt him a lot. What do'ya say, Mac?"

"I say we make 'im unrecognizable to his own momma."

Straining her eyes to see them in the darkness, a certain coldness prickled the back of her neck. Trying to keep her breathing down to a minimum, she looked over at Eric whose eyes were as wide and as fearful as hers. He kept cradling his leg, never once daring to peak over the tree. Together, they waited in the chilly darkness, their only protection an Oak tree. They waited for what felt like an eternity, until the sneers and jeers of the West Lake football players soon muffled off into the distance. Finally, Jackie felt brave enough to speak, "Eric, we need to get out of here."

Eric blinked, admitting, "I…I'm lost. I didn't see which way we came in…I was…" He seemed ashamed as his gaze fell to the leaves, "I was so scared."

She rested her hand on his shoulder, admitting in the darkness, "I was scared too. I just ran…I don't know where we are either." Her voice sounded like a frightened whisper.

He huddled closer to her, the brittle leaves crunching beneath his weight, "Jackie, I…" words failed him. He didn't know what his plan was. He wasn't strong. He wasn't fast. According to his own father, he wasn't too smart either. In fact, he was terrified out of his wits of all the physical pain the football players promised to deliver to him. He just didn't know what exactly he had to offer the cheerleader.

The wind picked up, making the night eerily colder. With a shivering hand, Jackie lightly touched Eric's chest, right where his heart sat. In the darkness, she whispered, "Thank you… for coming after me."

He looked up, wishing he could distinguish the features of her face in such total blackness. She then leaned down, her lips lightly touching his cheek, "It means a lot."

He closed his eyes, whispering himself, "I know."

* * *

 _This chapter was more for the group dynamics, and setting up the stage for part 2, which for the most part will be Jackie and Eric._


	5. Chapter 5

**5- Homecoming Prt 2**

-9:58 pm-

The seconds stretched longer and longer, the proverbial clock of time that they couldn't hear ticked forward and onward. The darkness that engulfed them only added to their fears and personal doubt within themselves. After a few minutes of aimless walking, Eric had to admit to himself that the trees of the forest were beginning to look like soldiers standing guard. They were tall, silent, and if he didn't know any better, he'd swear they were watching their every move. He was so preoccupied with not letting out a high pitched scream with every new creepy scene that they passed, he didn't notice Jackie shivering right next to him. She had her arms wrapped around herself in a vain effort to keep warm. The breaths she released could be seen catching on the air just above her lips, floating for a moment before she would turn her head, almost ashamed that she felt so cold out there in the darkness.

After minutes of silence, Jackie broke it.

"I can't do this."

He spun around, tearing his eyes away from another tree only to catch sight of Jackie. Her face was losing color rapidly, and the sight of this and what it could mean scared him more than any spooky tree in the forest. He quickly walked up to her, "Do what? What's wrong?"

She shook her head, her voice cracking as if she were about to cry, but her eyes being stubborn to release a tear, "Walking around with no direction…Eric, this is crazy."

Maybe it was, but he himself didn't want to admit to the possibility of the two renegade West Lake football players possibly still being on the loose, hunting them like animals. And if he did, he knew they had to keep moving so as to put as much distance between them and the West Lake players.

He nodded, noting her concern before taking off his jacket and placing it over her slender shoulders. From the look of surprise on her face, she wasn't expecting that. And if Eric was perfectly honest with himself, neither was he.

Leaning back slightly, a bit embarrassed, he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, "You seemed…cold."

"I was."

For a brief moment their eyes caught each other, only to then be pulled away when they heard a twig breaking in the distance.

Both teenagers were paralyzed in fear. They held their breaths, their eyes boring into the darkness of the area that made the sound.

And then suddenly a rabbit hopped out. Both let out harsh breaths as the rabbit stared curiously at one and then the other. It sniffed the air for a moment before hopping away, back into the darkness.

Simultaneously both Eric and Jackie let out loud laughs. They both staggered toward each other, half laughing at the fact that they were scared of a tiny woodland creature, the other half of their laughter being that they were so terrified that if they didn't laugh they would break down in tears.

Jackie leaned into Eric, still laughing as she wiped a stray tear from her eye, "Eric, I am so scared!"

He nodded, laughing hysterically, "So petrified!"

She laughed harder, "I think we're gonna die!"

His laughs echoed in the darkness, contrasting his sad green eyes, "Me too!"

She continued laughing, telling him, "I have to…(giggle) to tell you something."

His laughter died down to chuckles, "Yeah?"

"I…I…." She had to battle her fits of giggles as she told him, "I don't think I love Michael."

They busted out laughing at the same time. She shook her head, running her fingers through her hair, "Isn't that funny?!"

He chuckled a bit more before admitting, "Yeah? Well, guess what!"

Both paused for a moment, maniacal gleams in their eyes as Eric pressed on, "I really like Donna! I do, it's just…I don't think I love her either!"

They both burst out laughing, pitifully leaning on each other for support. But then their laughter turned into soft sobs, and before either one knew what was happening, Jackie was clinging onto Eric's shoulders for support, crying softly into his shoulder, wetting it with her tears. Eric himself found himself crying. He wasn't sure if he would make it out of the forest alive, not sure if he'd ever see his family or friends again, but mostly he cried because he knew he was a chicken. He was going to die out in that forest, surrounded by the darkness and the cold, and he would never have the guts to tell Jackie that he liked her- a lot. He would never tell her that he was attracted to her. He would never tell her that he believed himself to be in lov-

"Eric?" She asked him softly, her arms around his neck, her eyes plastered to the void they were stuck in.

"Hm?" He rubbed his cheek on the top of her head gently, taking in the soft aroma of her shampoo. It smelled like peaches. He didn't care too much for peaches, but they smelled great on her.

She spoke quietly, so much so that he had to strain his ears to hear her, "I like someone else…that's not Michael."

He stayed quiet, digesting the information. With the palms of his hands, he rubbed her back gently, silently letting her know he was still there, listening. She continued, a bit hesitantly, "I didn't mean to like him…it just happened. I can't stop thinking about him…I have fantasies about him…like some goof I even talk to myself in the mirror, trying to convince myself I don't love him-" She quickly changed it, "I mean, _like_ him!"

Another tear slipped out, and she closed her eyes, turning her head to rub it on Eric's chest, not caring if her makeup smeared or if she left a few smudges on Eric's shirt. She just needed to be close to him.

After another quiet moment, he admitted to the darkness and to Jackie, "I know how you feel."

She was a bit taken back by his admission. Her arms carefully fell from his neck, and slid down to his chest, and she let him hold her there, just the two of them.

Eric cleared his dry throat before pressing on, "There's this girl…I thought I hated her. But then, after a while, I realized I felt so strongly because she paid attention to everyone else but to me. It was like she was avoiding me…and I thought she was the most beautiful woman I ever laid eyes on. It made me mad…and I went about things in a childish way." He shrugged his shoulders pitifully, "What can I say? I'm a dumbass."

 _Is he talking about me?_ She dared to think. Her sharp intake of breath signaled him to continue.

"I kissed her."

Now her shoulders slumped. Jackie looked down, a powerful wave of nausea hitting her.

 _It's not me..._

Eric sighed, "I didn't have the nerve to do it when she was awake though…"

For some reason, her shoulders tensed. And then Eric let out another sigh, this one filled with remorse, "I'm sorry Jackie, _I could only kiss you when you were asleep_."

As soon as the words fell from his mouth, her body stiffened so hard she could've been a statue while Eric swore he was going to faint. The next second they pulled apart from each other, their eyes wide and their mouths hanging open.

Eric blinked several times, running back that last line and shooting silent prayers to the heavens that he said it in his head. Meanwhile, Jackie replayed the sentence and couldn't decide whether Eric actually said the words of if she was hallucinating him saying them.

But soon enough her question was answered when Eric shook his head, his cheeks beginning to burn through the coldness, "I'm sorry! I-I didn't mean-I-I….I'm an idiot!"

When her mouth decided to work again, she asked him carefully, "You? You kissed me when I was asleep?"

Eric's mouth opened and closed like a fish for several long seconds before he cried out, "I'm sorry! I know it was weird! And a little creepy! I'm sorry! Just-Just please don't tell my parents!"

"Why?" Her question a breathless whisper.

Eric shook his head, a full on panic attack gripping his body as he twitched every which way, "I don't know! I like you! You're kinda funny and you're hot and you have good grades and you're hot and you're not as shallow as you make yourself out to be!" His words spilled out of him like a flood as he continued, "I see you! When it's your birthday and your dad forgets! Or how upset you get when you're mom drinks! It's like you're being ignored! And you hate it! That's why you turn your back on them and love your possessions because you think they won't leave you but Jackie, things and objects are just things and objects! They can't love you back!"

She took a step back, shaking her head, a bit dazed that her cover was blown, "No…"

Eric stepped closer to her, "I'm not trying to sound like a stalker or anything but it's just that-"

Angrily she shoved him away from her, "I have the _ **perfect**_ family! I am Jackie Burkhart and my father remembers my birthday and my mother doesn't drink!"

He stayed quiet, taking in her darkened eyes that were burning holes into him. He hung his head lamely, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said-"

She shouted at him, not caring who heard her, "That's damned right! We have wealth and status and that's all we need!"

"You don't…" He stopped when she glared at him, but then continued in a hushed whisper, "You don't believe that."

"I don't?" She challenged.

He nodded, "Jackie, I see the way you talk about love…about having a real marriage…and a few little ones sprawled around you…if you really believed in that, then you wouldn't talk about love the way you do."

She closed her mouth. She didn't know what to say. She hadn't expected him to see through her facade so well. Not too many people do that, mainly because not too many people care to do it. And while a piece of her was touched that he'd go through the trouble, another side of her was angry that he saw her family for what they really were: Regular people so out of touch with their emotions that they turned to booze and money to make themselves feel better. And Jackie had to admit, if she had a drink in her hand, she would down it right now just to ease her nerves.

Through gritted teeth she stormed up to him, "I'll show you who's out of touch!" She meant to slap him across the face, but that's not what her body did. As soon as she was close enough, her hand reached out, grabbed his collar, and before she could stop herself, she pulled him into her icy lips planted a jarring kiss right on his mouth, their lips crashing together in a beautiful mess of chaos.

She couldn't believe she did it. At least when Eric kissed her the first time, she was asleep, but now she was wide awake. What could her excuse possibly be? And then her thoughts went berserk:

 _He admitted he liked me…and I yelled at him. My feelings…are all over the damn place! I just- I can't focus….I don't. Know. What. I'm. Doing!_

 _Oh God…._

 _I'm messing everything up. I've messed everything up… I'm a walking wreck. A well dressed, polished and poised wreck, but a wreck none the less. Because, I'm doing something so incredibly stupid and I can't even have the luxury of blaming drugs, or alcohol or insanity behind it._

 _(sighing) Yes…I kissing Eric Forman._

Slowly Eric pushed himself away from her, eyeing her as if she had completely lost her mind.

 _And the look in his eyes when we pulled apart…_

Jackie's mouth hung open, her mind unable to comprehend what she just did. Eric then looked down at his bottom lip, and ran his finger over it- he was bleeding.

 _I think I ruined everything._

With the silence engulfing them, they stared at each other, almost searching for answers as to why such a harsh kiss occurred.

 _Oh, how did it get this far?_

-10:16 pm-


	6. Chapter 6

_Warning: Reader Discretion advised for language and content._

* * *

 **6- Coming Home**

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN THEY'RE LOST?!"

Hyde held his bruised side, unable to look a seething Red or shaking Kitty in the eye. Hyde looked down, admitting once again, "We all get separated… Forman went after Jackie, I had just tackled some football ass-wipe went his West Lake buddies ran up behind me and tried to bash the life outta me."

"Oh Steven!" Kitty gasped, taking his battered arm and letting him sit by the breakfast table in the Forman kitchen while she patted his forehead with a warm cloth. While she assured him that she would take care of him, Hyde shrugged shamefully, "I blacked out. I'm sorry. I couldn't protect your son."

While Kitty rushed over to the refrigerator to get a pack of frozen peas to cover Hyde's black eye, Donna- who had been standing awkwardly by the sliding doors- stepped forward, "After I got Kelso and Fez safe in the Cruiser, I went back for Eric… but when I saw Hyde, I just had to help him out." Both Red and Kitty noticed her bloodied knuckles, even though she tried to hide them. Then, she continued, "I dragged him to the station wagon and waited for Eric and Jackie, but Kelso and Fez were all in a panic because the West Lake players and fans were flipping cars over and setting them on fire. They nearly reached us and…" Donna couldn't look the Forman's in the eye as she sighed painfully, "I drove here, without them. I am so sorry…"

Kelso and Fez, who had been standing behind Hyde shamefully looked down. Fez mumbled a defeated, "I fainted. Fez is so unmanly." Meanwhile, Kelso ran his fingers through his dark hair, shrugging while his mouth twisted into an odd shape, "Man it was… it was bad. I just…" He shrugged again, deciding to study the table absently.

Kitty patted Hyde's shoulder reassuringly before turning to her husband, "The _News_ Red. We need to see what's going on out there. We heard all those sirens pass the house! I'm sure some TV station is covering it!"

He nodded, " _After_ I barricade this house. I don't want any more hooligans dropping by tonight." He then rounded on the rest of them, his tone harsh, "Guess who the hooligans are…" But suddenly his tone became oddly understanding as he informed them, "You kids are sleeping here tonight. We'll call your parents and let them know so they won't worry." His eyes then focused on Kitty, a rare sensitivity cascading over them, "I'm sure Eric will be fine. He was in the damn Boy Scouts for so many years, I'm sure it taught him something besides how to walk little old ladies down the street."

She nodded, seemingly leaning on Hyde for strength.

As he left toward the garage, zipping up his jacket on his way out, Kitty then stood up, telling Donna, "Honey, let me look at your hands."

She hesitated, but in the end, Donna showed her the scars. Kitty closed her eyes, taking in a deep, calming breath before opening them. She then forced out a smile, telling Donna in a strained voice, "You did the right thing."

Tears threatened to spill out of her green eyes as she again turned away from Mrs. Forman, "It doesn't feel like it."

Kitty took Donna's hands in hers, giving them a light squeeze, "You did what you had to do. And just you wait, I'll call your parents and you'll be home-"

Donna was immediately alarmed, Kitty could see it in the way her head snapped one direction while her jaw clenched, eyes widening in horror.

"What's a matter, Donna?"

The redhead stuttered, "My parents… are not home."

"What?" Kitty blinked, "Where are Bob and Midge?!"

Donna bit her lip, hating herself on not having the courage to just lie to Kitty in the first place, suck up her fear, and spend the night alone. "My parents are… out of town."

Kitty was outraged, "Out of town?! They left you alone?! You're their only child! For how long?! Where did they go?!"

Donna chanced a quick glance at the guys, but seeing as how the three of them seemed preoccupied in their own thoughts, she felt safe enough to admit to Kitty, "For the last few days… they went to, uh," she whispered, "The _Swingles_ _Bed and Breakfast Spa Resort_ in Canada."

Kitty knew perfectly well what _Swingles_ was- a well-known club for singles and swingers, and she didn't have to guess too hard to figure out what her crazy neighbors were up to, either. Instead of putting Donna on the spot any further, she nodded her understanding before letting everyone know she was going upstairs to prepare blankets and beds for them since they were staying overnight.

As she exited the kitchen, she paused long enough to tell Donna firmly, "And that includes you, Donna."

When she was gone, Kelso moaned, "Oh Jackie! She's probably alone and frightened… or super pissed at me!"

Hyde swiveled around his chair quickly, snapping, "Oh, shut up, Kelso! You don't get to bitch and groan about yer little annoying girlfriend! You were too busy with the goddamn nachos, remember?!"

Kelso dropped his jaw as Hyde angrily shouted, "And 'cause of her, we lost Forman! I had to look Red in the eye and tell him his son is missing and Mrs. Forman…she…" Hyde closed his eyes painfully. Just reimagining Kitty's terror was enough to make him physically nauseas. If he could, he would bring Forman home just so he could see the woman whom he had come to view as a mother happy.

Fez sighed heavily, wiping his tears slowly, "Do not blame him, Hyde. It was my fault! Donna said his arms were full, carrying me because I fainted like a sad-"

Hyde shook his head, "Naw man, this wasn't you, Fez. This was all on Mr. Perfect Boyfriend over there!"

"Me?!" Kelso scoffed, pointing at Donna, "She's the one who drove off without her boyfriend!" He turned to Donna, assigning blame to her, "Hey, look lady, I understand you not wanting to go after Jackie since that beef you two had in here a few weeks back, but to leave yer _boyfriend_? The guy you _grew up with_? The dude you claimed to _love_?! Man, even I think that's pretty cold."

Donna snapped, shouting at him, "Shut up, Kelso! You don't know one thing-!"

Fez looked up, confused, "Fight? Between da girls? What fight?"

Donna rolled her eyes, "It was nothing- it was stupid." But according to Donna's sudden flush, it wasn't nothing- Fez could sense it.

"Hey, leave 'er alone!" Hyde snarled, naked blue eyes narrowing on Kelso, "If Donna hadn't taken the initiative when Fez was just coming to, and when I was all hazy from that pounding, and you were too busy shitting yer pants, then we'd all be in a world of pain right now- so shut yer trap unless yer gonna thank her!"

Kelso nodded, saying sarcastically, "Okay- hey Donna, thanks for abandoning our significant others with the crazy people!"

Donna tried to rid her face of redness as she waved a bloody knuckled fist in Kelso's face, "Say that again and I'll knock your teeth out! You'll be eating though a straw for days!"

Kelso jumped up, waving his arms like a deranged man, "Fine! Let's do it! Brave vs Beautiful and I'm Beautiful!"

"And bone-headed!" Hyde griped, staggering to his own feet, shoving his chair out of the way.

It was Fez who stood up, the palms of his hands up, "Guys! Guys! We must stop! Hasn't there been enough violence for one day?"

While Donna and Hyde paused, mauling this over, Kelso didn't. He just screamed. But when Hyde and Donna thought he was going to attack, he just grabbed his stomach and collapsed on the table, crying, "It h-hurts!"

Fez patted Kelso's back comfortingly, "What hurts, my friend?"

Kelso said in between sobs, "The guilt!" He hiccupped, "I l-l-left h-h-her b-be-behind! Do you-you k-know h-how bad that feels?!"

Fez sighed, nodding. As he rubbed Kelso's shoulder blades, he turned back to Hyde and Donna. Both seemed utterly lost, a hand absentmindedly placed over their own guts. Fez confessed for all of them, "Yes, we know."

()()()()

 _He stayed behind me- about eight steps._

 _For about ten minutes, the only sounds that could be heard was our footsteps, crunching brittle leaves and twigs beneath our feet._

 _I felt awful. My stomach kept flip-flopping, and I could feel the strained beginnings of a headache. I tugged his jacket closer around my body and quickly wiped a tear away. I feel like I messed up again, like when he overheard me saying I wanted nothing to do with him._

… _I don't know why I keep messing up. I'm beginning to think I have something wrong with me. Maybe it's inherit, from my father… or maybe my mom. Both admit to me, in their own little ways; that they aren't happy with each other. Maybe it's a thing in my family to want to be unhappy._

 _As soon as I accept this, I feel an arm grab my wrist suddenly. I want to tell Eric to leave me alone; to let me bask in my loneliness._

 _But, there's one problem… Eric isn't the one grabbing me._

()()(((

"Red, Red, where are you going?!" Kitty cried out frantically, following behind her husband as he grabbed his deer rifle.

He turned to her, his tone final, "Kitty, we saw five minutes of the News, and you know what? It's Armageddon! Now, I'm going out there and I'm bringing Eric home."

"No! Red, the police can handle-"

"Those morons couldn't find their asses if they sat on them!"

The kids, in the basement, overheard the commotion upstairs. Hyde, laying on the couch, tilted his head to Donna, asking, "What's goin' on?"

She shrugged, "They're missing their son. But, I'll go check if there's anything I can do." Kelso- who had been sitting on the floor by the radio- jumped and followed her. Hyde choked out, "Whoa, where the hell do you think yer going?!"

Fez sighed, "Let him go." Hyde closed his mouth, and nodded, allowing Kelso to follow Donna upstairs.

Donna led Kelso to the living room, passing the boarded up kitchen sliding door as well as a few boarded windows in the living room that she and Kelso had helped Red put up. As soon as Donna saw Red with his rifle in hand, and Kitty with a beyond worried look on her face, she knew what was happening.

The first words out of her mouth were, "I'm coming with you."

Kitty almost shouted, "Oh no you don't! You are staying right here in this house, where it's safe!"

Kelso looked back and forth between the three, "What's goin' on? Where're we going?"

"Nowhere!" Kitty screeched.

Donna let Kelso know what she was planning, "I'm going with Mr. Forman to find Eric." Kelso's eyed widened as he pointed at a boarded window, "Out there? Seriously?"

She didn't even blink, "Seriously."

He then nodded, though it was obvious he was less sure than Donna, "I, uh, then I'll go too."

Red shook his head, pointing at Donna, "Her I can take- but you I won't risk. I don't feel like coming home in a body bag!"

Kelso stomped his foot, "Nu-uh! I can help! I can do things! I'm not always dumb!"

Donna asked Red as nicely as she could, "Mr. Forman, Kelso wants to help so he can find Jackie." She sighed, trying to get him to understand, "Like, if Mrs. Forman was in trouble, wouldn't you want to go out and save her?"

Red grumbled, looking over at a distressed Kelso before rolling his eyes and groaning to the heavens, "Son-ofva…" He then barked at both teens, "Grab yer damn coats! We're leaving in five seconds!" He then told Donna, "There's a shotgun under my bed- go get it." Donna nodded, "Yes, sir."

"Kettlehead!"

Kelso saluted a confident, "Yes, sir?!"

Red groaned, "Can I trust you with a baseball bat?"

Kelso smiled, happy he was tagging along, "How can you not?! I swing a baseball bat at almost anything!"

Red huffed, chancing a glance at a fidgeting Kitty, "Yeah, yeah, just don't take a shot at me or the girl, Lou Gehrig."

)()()(

"Well, well, well, looky looky what we've got here, Mac! It's our little buddies! The hot cheerleader, and her hero boyfriend!" sneered one of the football players. Both chuckled, taking off their helmets. While one had dark eyes and hair with a very forgettable face, the other had eerie cold, blue eyes.

"Yeeaahhhhh" the other one drawled out, "Our _friends_!"

Jackie yelped, smacking the man who clamped his large hand over her wrist. Behind her, she heard Eric shout out, "Jackie! JACKIE!"

One of the football players who had been following them grabbed Eric from behind and carelessly tossed him away from the scene like a ragdoll.

"ERIC!" Jackie screamed, the other football player taunting her, "So, the hot cheerleader has a name… _Jackie_."

Jackie's eyes nearly popped out of her skull when she heard her own name roll off that thick tongue. Eric shouted, wobbling to his feet, "I'll- I'll-!"

" _Save her_?" The football players said in unison, laughing. The one who held onto Jackie, the taller one with blue eyes curled a grin on his smug face, "Jackie, darling, I say it's about time you get another boyfriend… a real man, wouldn't you say?" At that moment, he jerked the teenage girl closer to him, and tried to pound her face with his lips. She turned away in disgust, which only angered him and made him shake her violently, "DON'T TURN YOUR HEAD AT ME, BIT-"

Eric screamed at the one holding Jackie, "Leave 'Er Alone!"

The player closest to Eric soon rounded on Eric and grabbed his arm so roughly, it would leave imprints. He leaned down, whispering tauntingly, "After he has his fun with yer little girlfriend, I'll have mine. Maybe, if yer good, we'll let you watch it."

Eric's eyes widened as he realized what was going to happen. He then shook his head and shouted, "Not if I can help it!" Out of nowhere he shot up his right arm and pinched the football player's trapezius neck muscle. The player widened his eyes, trying to figure out what Eric was trying to do to him. It was beginning to look like a strange one-hand massage. After an awkward few seconds, the football player pushed Eric away from him, "What the hell freaky thing was that?!"

Eric confessed, "Uh, well, the Vulcan Nerve Pinch usually works in Star Trek…"

"Well, this aint Star Trek!" And with that the player head-butted Eric, leaving Eric a hurtling to the ground. Jackie screamed out his name several times, begging him to wake up as his eyes fluttered open slowly, "Uhhhh…."

The first sight he saw was the blue eyed football player, sliding his hands all over a squirming Jackie. Just when the blue eyed player moved one hand up her skirt, Jackie shrieked and slapped his face so hard it left a red imprint. That got the football player mad.

Eric tried to scramble to his feet, but soon the world was upside down… and then he realized it was him that was upside down. The other football player, Mac, had him by the legs, grunting, "Let's see how yer face looks after I smash it in the ground a few times, eh hero?"

With his life flashing before his eyes, Eric was barely in control of himself as he chomped down on Mac's mud soaked sock, biting so hard the guy hollered in agony and let Eric's left leg go. With his free leg, the skinny teenager who never believed he could ever win a fight in his life, delivered a crushing blow to the crown of the football player who was holding him with nothing more than his heel.

The player let out a string of curses as he let Eric's other leg go. While he dropped to his knees, clutching his head, Eric toppled onto his face, swallowing a lump of dirt.

Quickly he scrambled to his feet, watching as the blue eyed football player tossed Jackie aside, snarling at Eric, kicking his football helmet toward Eric fiercely, "You wanna go, toothpick? FINE! Let's GO!"

Eric didn't know what was happening. His mind was scattered and beyond terrified. Then he almost cried out in sheer terror as the blue eyed player shouted like a maniac and ran right at him, pounding his chest like a gorilla.

Eric darted away from him, catching sight of a fallen, heavy tree branch. He tried to pick it up, but was too heavy for him. Then panic took ahold as he saw the West Lake player vault over the branch, and like an eighteen wheeler, he ran right over Eric.

Next thing Eric knew, he was on his back, gasping for air as the player slowly sauntered back, standing over him. He sneered, "This aint a fairytale, Loverboy. This is the real world. Nice guys finish last, and men like me control your life." He then placed his right foot over Eric's gut, smiling, "I win, as usual."

Beneath the leg, Eric twisted and squirmed. He literally had the wind knocked out of him seconds. But just when Eric thought it was all over, a loud POP was heard and the player's eyes rolled up. Within two seconds, he was falling toward Eric, and the skinny teen rolled away, nearly missing being pinned underneath the larger male.

Eric stared at the unconscious body, before looking up. And there, standing at the spot that _was_ directly behind the West Lake football player, was Jackie Burkhart, using both hands to steady the very same large branch Eric couldn't lift earlier.

"You…You hit him?" Eric blinked.

The girl nodded before turning her attention to the other football player who was rubbing his head and staring stupidly at them. She shouted at him, "You better run off or I'll beat the crap outta you…" She then added coldly, "And I'll wait for your buddy to wake up so he can watch."

The guy lifted his arms, shaking his head, "It was his idea, I swear!"

He rose to his shaking feet. Jackie swung the branch at him, knocking him back to the ground. Mac jumped to his feet, and Jackie hit him again. He lurched forward, and got to his feet again, only for her to hit him again, this time screaming.

"J-Jackie!" Eric cried out, holding her back, "That's enough!"

"NO!" She shouted, tears spilling out of her eyes, "It's not! I want him crawling on his belly like the worm he is!"

On that cue, the player made one last attempt to stand up before he jogged off into the trees, not daring another look back at the cheerleader. Jackie lowered the branch, Eric encouraging her to let it go. When she finally did drop it, she sank to her knees, pulling his jacket closer to her body, letting silent tears roll off her puffy cheeks. Eric wrapped his arms around her, telling her calmly, "It's okay. We're fine. We've made it."

She didn't say anything.

With his thumb, he lifted her chin so that their eyes could meet. "You know Jackie, you're a very strong girl."

She rolled her eyes, sniffing as she wiped away another salty tear, "Stop trying to make me feel better with all this 'strong on the inside' garbage."

Eric raised an eyebrow, a small smile toying on his lips, "Jackie, I was talking about the branch. That thing must be fifty pounds at least! I couldn't even budge it." He then added, smiling wider, "You've got the makings of a professional wrestler, young lady!"

She gurgled out a chuckle through her tears. As she wiped her cheeks clean of any stray strands of water, she smirked at Eric, "You tried to make me feel better, didn't you?"

He offered her a small shrug, "Did it work?"

She gave him a small, yet twinkling, smile, "Only a little." As she gave one final sniff, they heard police sirens off in the distance. Eric helped her to her feet, and they together they walked out of the woods.

()(()(?

Kitty kept twisting her hands nervously as she waited patiently on the living room couch, Hyde and Fez on either side of her. Sensing her worry, Fez decided to cheer her up with a story, "Mrs. Forman, when I was younger, our side of the island was at war with the other side of the island. Now, me and my childhood friend Charlie were frightened because even though we were best friends, we each came from different sides of the island. Well, one day, during the battle, Charlie's cousin and my uncle met. Charlie and I made it known that we were friends and did not wish our relatives to fight, and do you know what happened?"

Kitty's eyebrows tensed as she asked hopefully, "They set aside their differences and realized that fighting was a waste of time and then everyone went home to baked snickerdoodles?"

"No." Fez smiled sadly, "My uncle gave Charlie's cousin a concussion before dragging me home by the ear and assigning me extra chores. I couldn't see Charlie for the next three years. It was horrible."

Hyde noticed Mrs. Forman's stressed expression and asked Fez, "What was the point of the story, Fez?"

Fez threw up his hands, "I thought the point was quite evident! When a war is on, stay on your side and keep your mouth shut!"

Kitty then patted Fez's arm, asking him sweetly, "Honey, can you do me a favor and stop trying to make me feel better?"

Fez nodded, "Yes, I can do that."

At that moment, the doorbell rang. Kitty jumped up, racing to the door, "Red!" She threw the chair that was propped against it away and yanked the door open. But Red wasn't standing there. Two police officers were, with a quiet Eric and Jackie sandwiched between them.

Kitty zeroed in on the pair and burst into tears of joy. She threw herself at them, wrapping her arms around them both, squealing ecstatically, "Two of my babies are home!"

When she pulled back, she noticed both looked a little roughed up. Her joy quickly became concern as she asked them seriously, "Are you alright?"

Eric chanced a glance at Jackie before coughing, "Yeah mom… just a little cold."

Kitty thanked the officers, offering them a few sandwiches and quickly sat Eric and Jackie down, practically ordering them to drink hot cocoa to "get your energy up!" Fez was so happy he kissed both Eric and Jackie, telling them that he was afraid he would never see them again. Fez then decided this was the best time to retell the story he told Mrs. Forman moments before. Hyde asked Fez to can it when he noticed how tense Eric and Jackie were getting at the foreigner's words. Hyde then leaned in, admitting quietly, "Forman… Jackie…uh, glad yer back."

The hint of relief in Hyde's tone was not lost on Eric, and he looked up at the older boy, smirking, "You missed us?"

Hyde rolled his eyes, and shoved his hand in his pocket so that it could search for his aviators which he now wanted to put on, "As much as one misses a boil on their ass."

Jackie smiled, noting the slight pinkish hue on Hyde's cheeks. Eric must have embarrassed him. She shook her head, "It appears our Mr. Steven Hyde has feelings!"

"I don't!" Hyde snapped, resting his sunglasses on the bridge of his nose, "I don't feel anything. I'm like Morrison."

Then there came a rough banging at the door. Since Kitty had been in the kitchen, making a fresh batch of cookies to celebrate Eric and Jackie's return, Fez raced over and opened the door. And in spilled Red and Donna- both with black eyes. Kitty came in to see who entered her home, and upon taking a look at her husband and Donna, gasped, "Red! What happened?!"

Red Forman hollered, "KETTLEHEAD! Get in here- NOW!"

Kelso sheepishly walked in behind them, kicking the front door shut with his foot before looking down.

Red shouted, "He really does take a swing at anything!"

Donna explained, "We went to the High School. We got off the Toyota and got separated. I guess Kelso got scared. I caught up to him-"

Kelso shook his head, "Nu-uh! I don't get scared!"

Donna continued, "-And he hit me! And then a while later we walked on and found Red… after Kelso hit him too."

Red pointed a finger at Kelso, "You are damn lucky I didn't shoot you in the face like a damn North Korean!"

Kelso shrugged, looking ashamed, "Well it's not my fault! Everybody looks the same in the dark!"

Donna placed her shotgun against the wall, shaking her head, "He even hit these two football players across the face!"

Hearing that, Eric and Jackie looked up, "Football players?"

Donna nodded, "Yeah, West Lakers. I don't know why they were roaming the woods at night, but Kelso clocked the poor suckers pretty good."

Kelso sighed, taking a seat on the floor beside Jackie's legs, "Yeah, the blue eyed one might be blind in one eye 'cause of me! Poor guys though…" He looked up at Jackie, "They seemed scared or something! They kept rambling about this crazy cheerleader who wanted to kill 'em!" He then laughed, "Oh, women… right, Jackie?"

As soon as he said the word, he jumped to his feet, realizing for the first time that his girlfriend and best friend were safe in the Forman home. "JACKIE!" He pulled her into a big hug, a wave of relief washing over him, "Jackie! You're okay! You're like…ALIVE!"

She smiled softly, nodding as she carefully avoided Eric's gaze, "Yeah… alive."

Eric then turned away from the 'happy couple', his stomach beginning to churn in nausea. He looked down, thinking to himself, _"I told her I kissed her… what the hell was I thinking?"_

But Eric didn't have time to sulk too much because soon Donna's hands were in his, and before he knew what was happening, his red-haired girlfriend was giving him a sloppy kiss. When they pulled apart, she smiled at him, "Eric, I-I thought… you're not mad at me for leaving you, right?"

"…no. It's okay, Donna." He gave her a tight smile.

Awkwardly Jackie pulled back from Kelso, staring at the 'other happy couple' right next to her. For a split second, Eric and Jackie locked eyes.

Were they going back to 'normal'? Were they going to pretend that what happened in the woods didn't happen? Were they going to pretend that what was said wasn't said? Could they go back?

Donna then made a face, sucking her lip oddly, "…Eric? Were you bleeding from your lip?"

And then Kelso scratched his head curiously, "Hey Jackie, you wearin' Eric's jacket?"

Hyde watched with slight curiosity as Eric turned red and quickly turned around so none of his friends would notice his flushed face. And Jackie began to give a nervous giggle, "Uh, I was cold."

Kelso and Donna starred at their partners awkwardly. Both wore different expressions. While Kelso was trying to figure out if Jackie was mad at him, Donna was trying to figure out if she should be mad at Eric. But, she couldn't really find anything to be mad at him about. So he lent Jackie his jacket, so what?

A small voice in Donna's head whispered, _"He's never done that for me_." The redhead quickly pushed the thought away.

Red then asked his wife, gesturing to Eric and Jackie, "How the hell did they make it home?"

Kitty nodded, her tone embedded with that 'I told you not to go' sarcastic attitude, "Well Red, you know those nice police officers who can't find their rear ends? Well, they found Eric and Jackie."

Red grumbled, still adamant that it was a fluke and that his son and Jackie must've walked to the police station. He was partly right. They walked up to a squad car while the police man in patrol was eating jelly donuts. But none knew except Eric and Jackie, and they wouldn't dare disclose the truth.

Kitty then clapped her hands to gather everyone's attention. Cheerfully, she assigned the bed quarters, "Steven, you will be sleeping in your bedroom in the basement. Fez, you will be sleeping on the basement couch. Boys, try not to stay up all night having fun!"

Fez held Hyde's hand, not noticing the older boy's grumpy expression as he rang out with equal cheer, "We won't!"

As Hyde yanked his hand away, Kitty turned to Kelso, smiling sweetly, "Michael, you will sleep down here in the living room couch."

Kelso fist pumped the air, "Awesome! TV!"

Red glared at him, "If I come down here and catch you watching my television set, the next thing you'll be watching is my foot catching your ass!"

Kelso lowered his hand, saying quietly, "…awesome…no TV…"

Kitty nodded at Eric, "Eric, sweetie, you will be bunking in your room as usual." She then faced Donna, "And you will be in Laurie's old bedroom."

Donna raised an eyebrow, "The one right across from Eric's room?"

Kitty nodded, "Yup! And you will have some company! Jackie will be staying with you up there, so you won't get lonely!" While a strange sort of awkwardness fell upon the living room, both Jackie and Donna refused to look at one another. Both had shocked faces with tight jaws and wide, pleading eyes that were begging Kitty to see that they really didn't want those sleeping arrangements. But it was all missed as the older woman happily announced, "Now, you two girls don't stay up too late with braiding each other's hair and gossiping!"

Hyde mumbled sarcastically, so low that the only one who heard him was Fez, "… _or_ killing each other."

Fez locked eyes with Hyde, a sense of danger looming around him and settling in his stomach, "Aye, you feel it too, right?"

Before Hyde could ask what he was talking about, he felt it.

Slowly, Donna faced Jackie, expression a mudded mixed of uncomfortableness and irritation.

Slowly, Jackie turned to Donna, expression evident: Fear.

As Jackie and Donna stared at one another with mixed feelings, tension crept into the room. Everyone except Kitty and Kelso noticed.

Eric's eyes widened, and no one but Red noticed his twitching commence.

Red then narrowed his eyes at his son, sensing he had something to do with the way Jackie and Donna were staring at one another as if they were complete strangers. Red gruffly mumbled, "What did you do?"


	7. Chapter 7

**7- The Inner Turmoil of Jackie Burkhart**

Hesitantly, Donna and Jackie approached Laurie's room, with Eric awkwardly between them. After a moment, Eric cleared his voice, jerking his head toward Laurie's room, "So… this is it."

While the girls exchanged confused glances, Eric cleared his dry throat, squeaking out, "I'll be right across the hall if any of you need me."

At this, Donna raised a thin eyebrow, "Why would Jackie need you?"

Catching his mistake, the young teen's face paled. He shrugged, his tongue suddenly too thick, "I don't know. Maybe, if she get's lost…"

"Lost? In a hallway?" Now both of Donna's eyebrows were up. She then turned to the cheerleader in question, "Mrs. Forman said that there should be a sleeping bag in Laurie's closet. After I've disinfected it with every chemical known to man- or woman-, I'll get it. You can take the bed. And I'll let you sterilize that yourself." She then glanced at Eric before retorting to Jackie, "Try not to get _lost_ in the hallway." She then entered Laurie's room with a quick click, but not before giving Eric one last skeptical glance.

As soon as she was gone, Jackie rounded her glare on Eric, "What's wrong with you?! Do you _want_ her to get suspicious?"

"Of what?" He squeaked, chancing a glance at the stairs to make sure no one was there to overhear them.

Jackie hated to admit it, but technically he was right. They didn't have a secret relationship on the side or anything. They had two very awkward kisses- one of which she didn't even recollect. They were doing nothing wrong.

And yet… if they weren't, why were they both so jumpy and taking sharp glances at one another, as if afraid the world would flip upside down at any second?

Jackie nodded, taking in a large gulp of air, "You're right. Nothing's happening here. We aren't doing anything… devious. We're just two friends-"

"That fell for one another in some dark, creepy woods by accident?" Eric ended, his eyebrows a wreck of movement.

"Yes." She nodded, obviously realizing that if whatever they _didn't_ have had a snowball's chance in hell of staying a secret, it would fall on her shoulders to keep a twitching Eric under control. She added for clarity, "Eric, we were… scared. Our adrenaline was high, and not in the good way, not like how we are in the circles. Tensions were rising. We were on survival mode."

 _And if we were a couple, I would've pounced on you, just because I would've wanted to be close to you in our last moments on earth. In fact, it almost happened…_

Catching where her train of thoughts were going, she furrowed her eyebrows, turning away from him. She couldn't look him in the eye and ask him to ignore what was so plainly happening right in front of them, right between them, if she herself couldn't bring herself to believe it was nothing.

 _Because it isn't._

She groaned, having to turn her entire body away from him just to stop herself from looking possessed as she wrestled with her own thoughts.

Tiny tingles of excitement shimmered down in her stomach, dancing with one another shamelessly as she thought of his eyes, so big and naïve, a window to a boy who wanted to be taken credibly as a man but who still clung to childhood like a security blanket. The tingles swelled somewhat, now making way for goosebumps to prickle the back of her neck and shoulder blades, cascading downward as she thought of his lips. So many times she would be in front of her bathroom mirror, wanting to kiss those lovable lips of his, and the chances she got were both laughable and sad all rolled into one.

But maybe, if she had just one more chance…

The slight swaying of the back of her body wasn't lost on Eric. If Donna hadn't had been so close, there was no telling what he would've done.

 _Dammit!_ Jackie scolded herself, _Stop thinking about him and get your head together! I know you want him, but he's with Donna so it's wrong! You are not the other woman! You don't want to be! You know what it feels like to be with a guy, just to find that he's galloping around with a bunch of whores! Now STOP IT!_

"Survival mode?" He tried, trying to get her out of her thoughts, which seemed to be consuming her, and back to being focused on their conversation.

She instantly whipped around to see him. Those eyes… those lips, parting ever so slightly. Feeling a sweat breaking out at the most unladylike feelings she had ever had, Jackie nodded stiffly, "Yes. Surviving. We are all surviving. And if I survive the night, then more power to the world!"

"What?" He blinked, unable to comprehend those tangled sentences.

"Nothing!" She gulped, pushing herself inside Laurie's room just to get away from him before she did something she regretted, or worse, something she wouldn't.

As she pressed the door closed with her back, letting out a relieved sigh, she heard a voice, "Why are you sweating?"

Her head shot up so fast she could've sworn she heard it pop. That voice-?

 _Oh no, no, nononononono- For the love of God!_

Sitting at the edge of the bed, with an inflatable, rubber sleeping bag in her hands, was none other than Donna Pinciotti.

 _Out of the frying pan and straight into the fire!_

"Jackie? Are okay? You look…" Donna paused a moment to accurately think up the word, "-ill."

Unable to look Donna in the eye, Jackie chose to stare at her feet. They were caked in mud. When had this happened and why hadn't she noticed before?

She heard Donna sigh, and then she heard the springs of Laurie's bed squeak. She could feel Donna walking over to her, the taller woman's shadow encompassing her, sucking her in. Biting her lip, Jackie chose to now look at the walls in Laurie's bedroom. Why were they pink? Laurie hated pink. But then she remembered that Kitty was the one who chose her children's bedroom colors. And now Laurie was gone and all that remained was a pink wall. How many secret love affairs these walls could sing about if they could? They would probably start with Laurie and her many loves, and then make their way down to Eric and her. Not that they were, they weren't, but if they were… than… was where this line of thinking going anyway?

"I know what you're thinking." Donna said quietly.

Jackie gulped yet again, tears stinging her eyes. But dammit, she was going to hold herself together. She wouldn't let Donna break her. Heck, if two sex-crazed West Lake football players couldn't, Donna shouldn't be able to either, right?

Donna stepped closer to her, about two feet away, the sleeping bag lamely dangling in her hands. Those hands… Jackie chanced a glance at them. Dry blood was freckled across her knuckles, but Jackie had a suspicion that it wasn't all hers. Suddenly her gut squeezed tight, a sickening feeling falling over her. Soon a tot throbbing started on her left temple.

"I know." Were the only two words Donna said.

And Jackie knew something else- she was going to die in this pink room. Donna was going to kill her, she was sure of it. Leaning against the door for support, Jackie looked down pitifully. Never before had the urge to cry overpowered her than in that moment.

When it came to boys, she was no better than Laurie. And as Laurie stole the hearts of many women's loves, she was stealing one from a girl she once defended as a friend. It chilled Jackie to think of it, but yes, once when Leslie Canon was making fun of Donna's feet and brutish appearance, Jackie told her to shut up and focus on her grades. She told everyone loudly in the locker-room that if Leslie's grades dipped any lower, she would have to start picking out her corner, since that would be all she was good for.

Soon after that, Jackie learned from Michael (by accident, as she usually learned things from him) that Donna didn't see her as a friend- at first. Jackie's presence in the basement made the other girl uncomfortable and insecure, but as time passed, apparently Donna had defended Jackie to Hyde or Kelso when the occasion called for it. So, even though they barely spoke with one another, on some basic level, they were friends.

And it troubled the young cheerleader deeply that if she thought about it for too long, technically she was stealing a friend's boyfriend from right under her nose. The thought made Jackie physically ill. She wanted to vomit. She wanted to berate herself. She wanted Eric, but at the same time she wanted Donna to be happy- and that meant Eric being with the neighbor girl.

Jackie opened her mouth.

She was cracking.

She was going to spill it.

And she would tell Donna everything. Everything from those bathroom chats she had with herself, to the goodnight kiss, to the woods, what her and Eric were discussing in the hallway- all of it.

"Donna-"

"But no trades."

Jackie looked up, a single tear falling down her cheek, "Huh?"

Donna was shrugging, pointing at Laurie's bed over her shoulder, "I'm keeping the sleeping bag. Yeah, I know the thought of each of Laurie's _conquests_ in that mattress might be troubling you, but I'm not trading. If you wanted the sleeping bag, you should've put dibs on it."

Jackie wanted to cry and laugh at the same time, "You're talking about a mattress?"

Donna raised an eyebrow, "Jackie, what the hell else would I be talking about? And geez, what took you so long to get yer butt in here? And don't- don't tell me you got lost in the hallway. I'm not stupid." After a brief pause, Donna conceded awkwardly, "Well, I guess I did get lost in a hallway once, but I was drunk and trapped in one of those haunted houses over on Sherman Street!"

Jackie recollected that Halloween. It was the one where Michael fell into a six foot hole at the cemetery and freaked out, screaming for the gang not to leave him there. It was also her first Halloween with the gang. Hyde always had a lot of influence over Eric and Michael's decisions, so when the young stoner made it clear that he didn't want Jackie around that holiday, she wasn't that surprised that her boyfriend agreed with him, telling Jackie, "You gotta understand, babe! It's a guys night out!"

"Well, Donna's going!"

"Donna is a guy with boobs!"

That earned Kelso a crack in the jaw, courtesy of 'the guy with boobs'.

But, Jackie was surprised when Eric stated that he didn't mind her tagging along with them. Jokingly, he told her, "Just watch us older folk at work, young missy!"

He thought she was too young.

She thought he was a dope since all of her boyfriend's friends were dopes.

And Donna backed him up, swinging her arm around Eric as they laughed together, Kelso still cradling his jaw on the basement floor. The young redhead grinned, "Ease up on the princess, Hyde. I, for one, don't think it's too terrible of an idea to open up the gang to more females. That way," she directed her statement to Kelso, "we could be seen as intelligent, young women instead of _guys with boobs_!"

Jackie still remembered a pimply faced Eric turning to his best friend as she flicked Kelso the bird and called him a sexist. He giggled, "You just wanna scare the poor girl this Halloween, don't-cha, Miss Pinciotti?"

A freckle faced Donna smirked, gulping down her beer before tossing the bottle at Kelso's head, "Maybe…" She then eyed Jackie devilishly, "Say, do you scare easy, princess?"

Eric stepped between them, and reassured a smaller, younger Jackie Burkhart over his shoulder, "Don't worry. We may look like a bunch of hooligans, but when you really get to know us, you'll realize that we're just emotionally numb, hormone-crazed, media saturated deviants." Eric then winked at an unimpressed Hyde, "Guess who taught me that!"

"My jaw!" Kelso whined from the floor, slowly getting to his knees as he groaned, "Donna hitting my jaw, Hyde attacking my eye; at this rate I'm gonna be left for dead or worse… ugly!"

Hyde carefully pulled off his aviators, instructing Jackie, "Say Princess, you think you can play with the big boys and girls? Fine. You kick Kelso in the stomach, and you gotta deal- you can hang with us for the night."

She wanted nothing more than to be accepted by the older kids, so, she kicked her boyfriend as hard as she could and watched him sink to the floor in pain, screaming, "Damn Jackie?!" As he did his 'Kelso-thing' of both laughing and whimpering simultaneously; Eric, Donna and Hyde laughed so hard their eyes watered.

She was accepted.

She was only twelve, but she had a place to call home.

And now, after a handful of crazy yet memorably fun years, it was all threatened- just because she had a thing for the glue of the group: Eric Forman.

The soft smile that was on Jackie's lips as she replayed memory lane in her mind's eye slowly faded. She sighed, looking Donna in the eye, "Donna, are we friends?"

"No," Donna replied sarcastically, walking to a chair by Laurie's desk as she sprayed a cleaner on the rubber sleeping bag, wiping it vigorously with a rag she must've found somewhere in the room, "We just hang out a lot, ask each other for advice, stick up for one another every now and then, and laugh at the guys when they do something stupid." Donna looked up, her face in contortion, going out of her way to look confused, "Maybe we're strangers."

Jackie narrowed her eyes to the girl across the room, "I'm being serious, Donna."

The redhead nodded, "So am I!" She then tilted her head, scratching it as she asked the cheerleader, "Hey, who the hell are you?"

Jackie smirked. She couldn't help it. All her friends virtually had the same juvenile humor, and in way, so did she.

Placing her hands on her hips and tilting her head so that all her dark hair went to one side, the cheerleader rolled on the balls of her feet, smirking despite herself, "I'm the chick whose gonna kick your ass if you don't listen up!"

Donna chuckled, "You? You look like one good breeze will fly you away to China."

"Really? Well, I'll have you know, I'm not the little princess that I was a few years back, the one who got scared easily! I kicked the ass of a football player who wanted to, well… _force_ himself on me." She started her sentence confidently enough, but as it continued, she finished rather softly.

Donna stopped scrubbing the inflatable sleeping bag and jerked he head up, her face strained, "Wait, what?"

Jackie's silence was enough of an answer, and Donna rose to her feet again, this time throwing the sleeping bag down, "Was it a West Laker?"

"…"

"Holy shit! Jackie!" Donna's playful sarcasm from before was long gone, replaced by a worried and agitated attitude, "You need to file a police report! You need to get this guy off the streets!"

"… there was, _were_ , two of them."

" _Two?!"_ Donna screeched.

Jackie shrugged, trying not to make it sound like a big deal, "It's okay, Donna. They didn't get the chance. Eric was there and, I wasn't alone. I already filed a description with the cops when they picked up me and Eric so, it's okay."

According to the look on Donna's face, it wasn't alright. Her face suddenly became a shade lighter as she buried her face in her hands.

"Donna?" Jackie asked carefully, "Are _you_ okay?"

She tore her hands away from her face, shaking her head shamefully, "There were two football players in the woods when we went out searching for you and Eric. They were West Lakers…" An angry smile twisted on her lips, and Jackie thought that for a moment, Donna glared at herself when she glanced at her own reflection in Laurie's bureau mirror, "After Kelso hit them across the face with the bat, I…" She let out a dry chuckle, shaking her head, turning away from Jackie, "I gave them a lift to the hospital." Before Jackie could say anything, Donna turned around quickly, "Jackie, I'm so sorry. I feel like an idiot. I should've known. But, it's no excuse, I wasn't thinking clearly-"

The apology was getting a little too much for Jackie's taste. The guilt was collecting in her stomach, the acid threatening to push itself up her esophagus.

"Donna, please- Stop."

"If I wouldda known, I would've popped them across the face too-"

"Donna," Jackie sucked in her breath urgently, her ears beginning to ring, "Stop."

"Jackie-"

The cheerleader had had enough. She shouted hoarsely, "Don't apologize to me!"

Donna fell silent, for the first time since entering the room, actually taking in the younger girl's tormented state.

Jackie wrapped her own arms around herself, shaking her head as she murmured, "It should be the other way around." She quickly pulled the door open and rushed out of the room. Behind her, Donna stood in confusion.

)(?)(!)(

She didn't even want to look in the direction of Eric's bedroom for fear that if she just saw a glimpse of him, her revved up instincts would take over.

She hurried down the living room stairs, trying not to trip over her feet in the darkness. As she was darting into the kitchen, she heard what couldn't be mistaken as her boyfriend's sleeping. Judging from his snore, Michael was conked out.

As soon as she made it in the kitchen, she gasped. There, sitting at the breakfast table was Fez, wearing Eric's pajamas and dunking Oreo cookies in a small cup of milk. When he looked up and saw Jackie, his eyes lit up, "Oh, hello Jackie! I am eating a little midnight snack!" He then patted the seat next to him, "Come and join me! You seem distressed, but rest assured, your hair is impeccable!"

For some reason, the fact that her hair still looked great after the day she had did make her feel better.

She exhaled a large breath, sitting by him. He carefully chewed on the bits of his cookie, cracking it open before licking the cream off, "Jackie, please tell Fez why you seem all shook up… like that Elvis Presley song, 'All Shook Up'."

Her eyes darkened, never budging from their position on the centerpiece.

He dunked one chocolate cookie before the other, nodding his head, "Oh. Fez knows. You are thinking about what happened in the woods. Well, Fez can tell you a story that might be able to cheer you up."

She craned her head to look at him, actually intrigued by this proposition. In the past, she could always rely on Fez to make her smile.

He cleared his voice before saying, "When I was younger, our side of the island was at war with the other side of the island. Now, me and my childhood friend Charlie were frightened because even though we were best friends, we each came from different sides of the island. Well, one day, during the battle, Charlie's cousin and my uncle met. Charlie and I made it known that we were friends and did not wish our relatives to fight, and do you know what happened?"

Jackie's eyebrows tensed, "… I don't get how this story is related to me."

Fez continued as if she had never responded, "My uncle gave Charlie's cousin a concussion before dragging me home by the ear and assigning me extra chores. I couldn't see Charlie for the next three years. It was horrible."

"I'm… sorry?" She honestly didn't know how to respond to this.

Fez shrugged, chewing his soggy, milk cookies, "Do not be. I miss Charlie and we speak every so often, but now Fez has new friends." He swallowed, then smiled at her, showing her a mouthful of chocolate stained teeth, "And I am glad to know that whatever happens between the six of us, nothing can tear us apart."

Jackie looked down, her heart suddenly aching. Fez nodded, reaching over and holding her hand gently, "When you came in, I felt you were worried about that. I sense you fear your friendships may be over, but do not be scared, Jackie. We may get mad at each other, burn each other, and sometimes call 9-1-1 on each other just for laughs, but da point is, that no matter what happens, we will all be friends. Kelso, Hyde, Eric and Donna will all be there for you, as would I." He gave her hand a little squeeze, and for what it was worth, a piece of her did feel better.

She gave Fez a small smile. Though at times he could be weird and pervy, he had a great heart, and at times like this, she appreciated it.

"You don't know why I'm scared." She croaked, staring at their hands.

Fez's dark eyes glanced toward the kitchen door. He admitted, "Maybe I do." When Jackie turned her chair around, her heart almost caught in her throat. Standing there, in a rumpled white T-shirt and Spider-Man warmups, was Eric.

Eric blinked, asking Fez, "Dude… are you wearing my pajamas?"

Fez lightly patted Jackie's hands, rising, "Fez must go." He quickly placed his cup in the sink after rinsing it out and tossed the napkin that once contained his cookies in the trash. But as he was about to enter the basement, Eric held onto his shoulder, asking seriously, "You aren't… you're not, like, wearing my underwear too, right?"

Fez only offered him an apologetic smile, "Fez go now." And then he left down to the basement. Eric scratched his head, turning to Jackie is disbelief, "I think he's wearing my underwear!"

Jackie pulled a face, trying to rid herself of the thought as she told Eric, "Try not think about it. I know I am."

Eric turned to face Jackie. After a moment of the two of them staring at one another, the only sound being ticking of the kitchen clock, Eric stepped forward, "Jackie, I've been thinking about it and, I feel like something is happening… between us."

She feigned stupid, "Between us? Nonsense."

"I don't think so." Eric replied quietly. He licked his bruised lower lip before replying, "You kissed me in the woods. Why would you do it if there wasn't something there?"

Jackie was on the defensive. She shook her head, her voice an octave higher than usual, "That means nothing! You-you kissed me when I was asleep!"

"That was a mistake."

His words made her heart sink, even though she told herself that he answered correctly. Then he stepped closer to her, looking her dead in the eye, "I should've done it while you were awake."

Before she knew what she was saying, she whispered harshly, "We can't do this! What about Donna? What about Michael?! We'll hurt them!"

At the mention of his girlfriend's name, right along with his best friend, Eric looked down at his feet, his shoulders slumped.

"See?" Jackie hissed, "That's what makes what we have, the little bit there is, so bad!" Her eyes watered again, but she made sure not a single tear slipped out as she told him, "Even if it doesn't feel bad, it is."

"You admit you have feelings for me?" His question was so small, she almost missed it.

But she didn't. And she replied, ashamed of her own feelings, "I do." But just as quickly she looked up, "But it can't be allowed to grow, even if I want them to."

"I have feelings for you too." He spoke, his eyes on her, sadness their main emotion.

His confession would've made her the happiest girl on earth, if it wasn't for the partners they each had already, looming over them like a piano tied to a rope, ten storied above their heads like in a Looney Tunes episode.

She heard her boyfriend's loud snore in the living room and was jolted to face the reality of how close he was to her, to them. If he should wake up…. She didn't want to think of it.

"Jackie, maybe-"

"Maybe nothing." She sucked in the air around her, as if to make sure she was still breathing and that all this wasn't some bad dream.

Shaking her head, recalling so vividly the betrayed feelings she felt when she learned of Michael's messing around with other women, she backed away from Eric. She had felt awful, worthless, as if it was impossible for anyone to love her. She couldn't do that to a friend, she wouldn't do that to Donna.

"You're thinking about her, aren't you?" He asked her.

"Yes." She could at least offer him that bit of truth.

"I'll talk to her in the morning."

Slowly she rose her face to meet his, her tone deadly serious, "Don't. Don't you dare make me the reason you two break up. Don't…," she had to get it off her chest, "Eric, don't make me 'the other woman.' Don't make me a relationship killer, or a boyfriend stealer, or a backstabbing friend. Please don't do that to me."

"We have to do something!" He harshly whispered, throwing his arms up, "We can't live like this! I really like you-"

"How do you know those are real feelings?!" She whispered back, snapping to her feet so fast that the chair still swiveled even after she was off it, "Maybe they're just crazed hormones from a self-proclaimed, media saturated deviant!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" He choked out, his hands flaying about every which way, "My feelings for you are genuine! Or have you been hurt so much that you can't tell the difference anymore?"

Apparently her outburst in the woods when he confronted her about the truths behind her family hadn't gone from his mind. She wished it would. A part of her couldn't stand the thought of someone, even Eric, knowing the truth behind Point Place's first family.

She snapped, "I'm not talking about that!"

He inched closer to her, "Then what can we talk about, Jackie?"

She fidgeted, "I-I don't know! But not that! And not us!"

"Then what?!" He yelped, his fingers almost tearing out his hair. For a moment, Jackie briefly wondered if that was how Red lost his hair, during a midnight fight with Kitty in some dingy apartment kitchen, when they were younger. Maybe he was also trying to convince the future Mrs. Forman that what they had was solid, and worth taking the risk for. Was that what Eric was trying to do? Her thoughts led to a very dangerous place as she dared wondered, _Is he also trying to convince another future Mrs. Forman of the potential they have together?_

"I'm telling Donna." He spoke, the finality quite evident in his decision, "I'm telling her, and if you want, I'll tell Kelso. It's not right for either of them to continue to invest in relationships that aren't going anywhere. They deserve at least that much. And, and after I do it, I would like you to be by my side."

"I can't." She groaned, the fear of the unknown rising into her like a bat out of hell, "It's going to get so ugly and what we're talking about is ripping the fabric of our friendships and I don't want to do that! I like Michael! He's a sleaze-bag and a terrible boyfriend but he's funny and cute! He was my first love and I can't hurt him this way! I mean, to go running off with his _friend_?! That's a bitchy move there, Eric! And what about Donna? I know she dresses like a trucker and talks our ears off about feminism, but she's still my friend! She helped me pass Spanish! She threatened a guy that was hitting on me in the lunch-line! She helped me get on birth control so that I wouldn't come out pregnant with a baby I wasn't ready for! She's done more for me than my own mother! I can't steal her love! I mean," and she sounded almost like Donna when she blatantly spat, " _What the hell?!"_

Jackie began pacing around in the kitchen, shaking her head as her voice became even more frantic, "And Fez! Poor Fez will see all the friends he's got bickering and choosing sides! We both know it'll be me and you versus the rest of them!" She paced over to the refrigerator, prying it open so that she could grab a beer. She clicked it open, and just like her mother, downed it like an expert. She was halfway through when she shut the fridge door and pointed at Eric with her can of beer, "And I don't even want to think about Steven Hyde!"

At the mention of his name, Eric's eyes grew wide and fearful. But what Jackie didn't notice in her fit, was that they were no longer on her. But still, she continued, "He hates me so much! He always had! He'll hate me even more it it's possible! He'll use this as an excuse to run me off from the basement! And that's bull because the basement is the only real home any of us truly has!"

Eric was twitching.

"Eric, what are you gawking at?!" She twisted around to find Hyde, in grey warmups and a classic black T, barefoot and silent, analyzing them with his cold blue eyes.

Jackie's words flew out like a flood, "How long have you been standing there?!"

He didn't respond.

"Hyde," Eric gulped, mustering all the authority he could find in himself, "Me and Jackie, we, well, I think you should know that we-"

Hyde stepped closer to them, and instantly Eric's faltering words dissolved into the air. The curly haired teenager turned to face Jackie, his face as rigid as stone. Jackie's breath was caught in her throat. How much had he heard?

Slowly, the burnout of the basement reached over and plucked the beer from Jackie's trembling hand. He gulped the last of it, burped loudly, and tossed it casually inside the trash bin. Without a word, he turned around and went back downstairs to the basement, without even a glance at her or Eric.

Jackie's eyed seemed permanently glued to the spot he came from. The only noise the pair heard was the ticking of the clock and Kelso's loud, peaceful, snores.

Finally, Jackie spoke, "Donna's waiting for me." She turned around, as if on auto-pilot, and reached under the kitchen sink to take out a few kitchen cleaners. Eric watched her, unsure of what to say or do. When Jackie had an armful of spray bottles and rags, she nodded to Eric, "We are disinfecting your sister's room. Night."

What just happened? Still a bit frazzled, Eric numbly nodded, "Goodnight Jackie."

And then the weirdest thing happened. Just as she was about to go upstairs, he caught her arm and twirled her around slowly. And he kissed her, on her cheek. It was quick, and it was soft, but it was enough for her to breathe again.

He motioned to the cleaners in her hands, "Good luck with the disinfecting."

A tiny smile curved her lips, and for a moment she forgot about Donna and Kelso, "I'm Jackie Burkhart; I don't need luck."


	8. Chapter 8

CH 8: Waffles

 _Luck._

 _What. A. Fine. Mess I've thrown myself into, and I tell him I don't need luck! What was I thinking? Was I thinking at all? For a moment, I thought of waffles… waffles has nothing to do with anything, why am I thinking about that now? I'm supposed to be sleeping in close proximity to a girl who can bench press a ton and who happens to be the girlfriend of a guy I like… a lot. Should I be worried? Yes. Am I? No. Why not? Because after I told him I didn't need luck, I went back upstairs where I had to hear Donna go on and on about how weird Eric's kisses are and stupid me said, "I know."_

 _Then she paused and stared at me._

 _She was in the middle of fluffing her pillow, and the first thought in my head was- "if she is going to strike me, let it be with that because if she picks up a blunt object, I will die in this room."_

 _Slowly she stood to her full, intimidating height, "How do you know?"_

 _And my mouth said, "Michael does weird kisses all the time!" She bore into my soul for another moment before sitting back down to the makeshift bed she made for herself from Laurie's old camping gear and nodded, "I guess."_

 _She bought it- sorta. And it wasn't all a lie. Michael gave some weird kisses, like once he tried to kiss me with a lizard in his mouth. I will not go into the freaky details or how many bottles of Listerine I went through, but the point was that I wasn't a complete and total liar._

 _And then it got awkward and weird, and I got nervous and fidgety as I thought of the kiss in the woods and how I made Eric bleed… and Donna kept staring at me! I swear, her unusually dark eyes might as well have belonged to the Mona Lisa because all she did was follow me around the room with them! And her black eye made her all the more menacing…I got so agitated, I finally made up some excuse to get out of that room again, only to hear her soft response, "Don't get lost in the hallway."_

 _I went to the living room. It was dark, and it made me feel both safe and unsecure at the same time. I guess it felt safe there, engulfed by darkness because I could at least pretend my predicament was in my head. But, at the same time, there wasn't the same comfort that the room gave off as it did in the daylight. There was no fragrances of food wafting from the kitchen, no loudness from the boys and Donna wrestling or Mr. Forman's grumpy "foot in ass" jokes. None of Kitty's laughter or Eric's reassuring warmth. You couldn't see it in the dark. You couldn't feel it. And as I sat in Mr. Forman's chair, watching the outline of my boyfriend from the moonlight that cracked through the living room curtains as he had another dream about making out with Jackie Onassis, a smile playing on his lips, I still felt awful. How was I going to tell him about Eric if I couldn't explain it myself? Besides, is there anything really to tell? Maybe we're just making a big fuss out of nothing, like teenage hormones will do this. Maybe tomorrow- oh crap, it's 3 something in the morning, ok then- maybe later on today I will magically fall in love with Michael all over again!_

 _But do I want to? I mean, the goofball is calling out another woman's name in his sleep! Okay, well, maybe her name is my name but it's still someone else, not me._

 _And that's when I just thought, "I need something to help me get through this long-ass night!" And I dove straight to his pocket. He usually kept a spare joint there, in the front left one. I immediately took it, darted into the kitchen, flipped on the lights and turned on the stove. And I lit up, turning off said stove as soon as my intention became a reality._

 _And there I sat, on the kitchen floor, back leaning on a wall by the basement door, in the light, smoking a drag. As I puffed out an elephant shaped cloud, letting the slight tingles of good 'ole Mary Jane mellow me out, I thought of waffles._

 _They would be so good right now._

 _They would be, and with Mrs. Butterworth syrup!_

 _I once had a maid that smiled like Mrs. Butterworth… I loved that maid. My mom got rid of her, said that I wasn't supposed to get attached to the help. I told my mom I loved her. Henrietta made me hot tea to soothe my stomach when I got sick, sang me songs when I felt sad, and hugged me when I thought the world was falling apart on me. But mother said that none of it mattered, love was immaterial and as such was unimportant. I never believed that._

 _Henrietta used to make waffles. Every Sunday, right before church I used to get a great big plate full. They were so good. They made me feel like a regular kid. I knew what it was like to have a mother-figure serve me a hot breakfast and tell me I was beautiful, like a rainbow._

 _I was eight when mother sent Henrietta away. I never tasted those waffles again. I ate store bought waffles, but they weren't the same. Mother got a new nursemaid for me. She told this one not to get close to me. She said only a mother should be loved as a mother, no "commoner" was to come between her and me._

 _I slid a little, the back of my shirt gripping the wall-papered kitchen wall of the Forman's. My eyes stung, my head a bit dizzy, my stomach empty. I was starving. No- I am starving. I guess I was always starving for love-ly waffles._

 _This is going to sound strange and make no sense… but I wonder if Eric would make waffles, if they would taste like home._

 _Wait- that's stupid. I giggle at myself. Waffles didn't taste like home, how could they? A House would taste like home!_

 _So how can you taste the house? Maybe I should lick the kitchen floor…_

 _Ew, that's gross though. People walk on it and Fez stepped in dog poop the other day. Know what, when I'm more stable and more sure that I can walk without breaking into a disco dance, I'll lick the counter. Yeah, counters taste like home._

 _Waffles!_

 _But at least I know I do like the breakfast treat. And I do love waffles…. I think I'll forget about my crazy love triangle or rectangle or pentagon or whatever it is with me and Eric, and Eric with whoever for now._

 _It stresses me too much to think about it. Besides, I don't know what's happening there anyway._

 _I guess…I guess waffles are the only thing I've ever been really sure about._


	9. Chapter 9

_There's some minor cursing in the chapter._

* * *

CH 9: The Breakup Scene

"Maybe she is dead."

"Fez," another voice chimed in, roughly, "We wouldn't have such luck."

At that, her eyes fluttered open. She was on the ground, a pair of brown work boots in front of her, next to a pair of fashionable women's pumps. As Jackie slowly sat up, she wasn't surprised to find that the work boots were attached to Steven Hyde. She was equally unsurprised to find the pumps belonged to Fez. And then she was surprised that she was unsurprised that the pumps belonged to Fez. Then she just assumed that he preferred wearing women's shoes, recollecting a conversation they once shared in the basement when he stated that the men shoe selection was terrible.

She tried to get up, but she felt a little loopy. And then suddenly, Hyde was kneeling over her, slipping something out of her right hand, hissing, "You trying to get us caught?"

Where was she? The kitchen? Probably… her last coherent thoughts were about kitchens.

Her groggy eyes focused on what he held in his hand. It was a joint. Just as she was about to ask where it came from, her boyfriend walked in, saying urgently, "Guys! My backup joint is gone!"

Before Jackie could respond, Fez shook his head at Kelso, "You had a backup joint and you did not think to share it with Fez?! Sharing is caring or have you not heard?! Does this mean you do not care for Fez?! The audacity!"

Kelso kept opening and closing his mouth before saying to Fez, "No buddy, I care about you a lot! I'm sorry, it won't happen again. Next time, I'll bring two joints. A _his-and-his_ set."

Jackie couldn't believe it. She couldn't even get Kelso to hold a chair out for her, and here he was, bringing things for Fez. She tried not to roll her eyes at the whole ludicrous situation, but Hyde was less successful than her. And when Kelso held out his hand and placed it on Fez' shoulder, telling him, "You know I'll do anything for you, bud" so genuinely, she tried her best not to shout, "And what have you ever done for me?! Just last year you thought you gave me crabs, you jerk!" Instead she just groaned. It was Hyde who snickered at the pair, "Geez, go get a room."

Fez held his head high, "Thank you Kelso, at least it is comforting to know someone cares about me."

Hyde snapped at him, "For the last time: I wasn't going to sleep with you in my cot! Dudes don't do that!"

Fez snapped right back, "The basement couch was cold and lumpy! You know I have back problems from last May, when da football players stuffed me in a locker and left me there over the weekend!"

"Hey!" Hyde reminded, "I was the one who went searching for you and I was the one who broke you outta there! So don't you dare bring that up again!"

She was getting a headache from all this yelling. It was way too early for this.

Jackie slowly wobbled to her feet, taking in the Forman kitchen. Why was there so much light? Her eyes tried and failed to adjust to the brightness of it all, her mouth moving sluggishly, "What time is it?"

Hyde grumbled, crossing his arms, "Time to act like a freakin' adult." She ignored him.

Fez asked her seriously, "Would you care to know central time or eastern time? I can tell both."

Jackie blinked, "I can never have a simple answer with you, can I?" She then dusted herself off, slurring to her boyfriend, "Sorry about the joint, Michael."

Before Kelso could respond, Hyde snapped at her, "You are damned lucky we actually woke up early and caught here with it."

Jackie shrugged sluggishly, "Yup. I sure do feel lucky." Her sarcasm was enough to drive Hyde over the edge.

Hyde pushed Jackie into the wall, handing Kelso the tiny stub of what was left of his joint, "Look brat, I don't care if you light up at yer own damn place, or the basement, but the _kitchen_? Where the Forman's are always at? Your IQ dropped? Red is bound to smell this stuff for sure. And look at you, wobbling around, and yer eyes bloodshot! The tinge of smoke still left on yer clothes… we all might get thrown out on the count of you!"

She had it.

After all that she had been through, and the pain in her chest when she thought of Eric and Donna, mingled in each other's arms, the football players, the games, the silly high school status's and 'forbidden love' and Donna's accusing eyes and now Steven Hyde's lecture? She just had it.

She snapped at Hyde, "Go shove the joint up your ass and lemme alone!"

She then blew past Hyde, marching right out of the kitchen through the sliding door. The three boys had varying looks of shock as Jackie slammed the door so hard the frame shook. After a moment, Fez broke their stunned silence, "Well, someone certainly woke up on the wrong side of the floor."

((((

Donna was standing in front of Eric's bedroom door. She had been standing there for the better part of an hour, just staring at it. Finally, she worked up the nerve to knock. As soon as she did, the flung open, Eric's excited face greeting her, "Hey!" But then as soon as his eyes adjusted and he realized it was her, and not someone else, his smile faltered a bit, "What's, uhm, up? There a problem?"

She had been, if she were completely honest with herself, getting these bad vibes for the past few days, about her and Eric's relationship. She may have been hardheaded, but she wasn't stupid. Something was going on, and she just had to ask him. She wasn't a 'beat around the bush' type, so straightforward and blunt it was, "Do you love me?"

Eric's face fell.

When he was eight, she caught him sneaking a candy bar up under his shirt. To her it wasn't a big deal because her parents let her eat candy all the time, that's partially why she had a ton of cavities as a kid, but his parents had been super strict with him: NO candy before dinner. When she caught him, she learned that he made a little extra money selling aluminum cans. It wasn't much, but that was how he bought his candy. But one day, Kitty found out. They were all in the basement, and Kitty was there folding clothes, and the rest of them were playing monopoly. Eric had to go the bathroom, he got up, and the candy bar fell down.

A pin could've dropped at the instant silence.

Kitty had been so upset.

All this time Donna didn't get the big deal. It was a candy bar, not the end of the world. But took years for her to figure it out. It wasn't a candy bar. It was the betrayal of trust. Kitty had trusted her son not to eat candy before dinner, but he did. And years later, Donna trusted Eric to love only her, but he didn't. And all these years later, Eric Forman still had the same guilty face.

And in that instant, Donna Pinciotti knew.

And Eric knew that she knew.

And then she slowly nodded, finally croaking, "I knew… in a way. But now I know for sure, huh?"

"Donna-" He reached out for her, "You gotta understand-"

She instantly pulled back, like a wounded animal, "Don't you touch me."

But Eric tried again, determined to make this right, "Donna, please-"

She pushed him away from her angrily, hissing, "Don't you _fucking_ touch me. Don't you _ **ever**_ touch me _again_."

He shook his head, his green eyes wide, his mouth agape like a fish, "I didn't, I didn't want to hurt you. I didn't want to-"

"It's Jackie, isn't it?" She asked, her voice suddenly quieting.

Eric's face was the picture of shame. His eyes widened, the creases of his worried forehead deepened, the corners of his mouth twitched, and then he breathed, "…yes."

She nodded, letting a slow stream of silent tears cascade down her cheeks, "I knew it." She then shook her head, chuckling slightly, "Of course it was her. She's prettier than me. She's more sociable, popular. She's got money. And you won't sit around, waiting for her to be ready to lose her virginity, huh? Seeing as how she already lost it."

"You shouldn't talk about her that way." He said in a hushed tone.

She nodded, forcing herself to swallow the lump in her throat, "Oh, I'm sorry. She took my boyfriend, but I'll be the one to apologize. Okay, I get it. I really get it. I'm shit and she's caviar."

"Donna, I never said that."

She laughed hollowly, "Eric, you never had to. It's plain as day by how you handled everything. You didn't even have the balls to tell me to my face, I had to figure it out on my own."

"I wanted to tell you but Jackie-"

"Don't you dare hide behind her skirt. For years you've hid behind me as your freakin' bodyguard with the bullies, and that's probably why you were with me to begin with, wasn't it?"

"No!" He cried out, "I really liked you!"

Donna rolled her eyes, snickering, "No. All you really like is yourself. So go ahead." She stepped out of his way, motioning toward the staircase, "I'm outta the way. Go collect your pretty little number. Don't even think about me or Hyde or Kelso-" At Kelso's name, her lips twitched, "Kelso… you're best friend since what was it? 1st grade? This is gonna be another act of betrayal isn't it? So go ahead… backstab him."

"Donna," Eric replied calmly, "I know you are hurt and you're lashing out because of it, but you need to stop it. You saying very spiteful things."

"I'm saying the truth."

He gulped, licking his lips nervously, "Be that as it may-"

Donna rolled her eyes, quickly wiping away her tears, "I can't believe I ever loved you. You gutless worm, just say what you want and accept you're not the good little boy your mother thinks you are, and just let it be." And with that, she turned on her heel, never looking back at a disheveled Eric not even once. Not even when she flipped him the bird.

Eric looked down at his brown loafers, mumbling sarcastically, "Well, that went well."

)(((

In the Forman kitchen Donna stormed in. Fez jumped back at the murderous look in Donna's eyes, "Aye!"

Kelso was completely oblivious to it as he waved at her, "Hey Big D! How's it hanging?"

"Get Bent!" She growled before pausing and telling Kelso prophetically, "He's gonna hurt you too, y'know. I just feel I gotta warn you before you find out the hard way, like me."

And then she left, right out the sliding door.

Kelso blinked, "Warn me? A dude's gonna hurt me? What?!"

Fez told Hyde, "That was cryptic. I'm surprised she didn't predict all our deaths while she was at it."

But Hyde stayed silent, staring at the Pinciotti house before making his move, "I'll see all you lovebirds later. I gotta check on somethin'." And he too was out the door.

Kelso blinked again, "Lovebirds? It's just me and you here!"

Fez shrugged, "Perhaps it is because he is threatened that our close friendship could be construed as having homosexual overtones. Like that time we bathed together, or that time we slept together, or all those times we make dates to the Hub or at the mall."

Kelso shook his head, "We need to fix that, because we are all man!"

Fez agreed, "Yes we are! And you know how I love me a good, strong man!"

Kelso readily agreed, nodding, "I hear ya!"

After a moment in which they played back their words, Fez said, "You know, I know what I said, but it sounded different in my head."

Kelso slowly nodded, eyeing Fez in a paranoid fashion, "Yeah, I figured that out too…"

It was tense, as the two of them tried not to glance at one another obviously while taking peeks at what the other one was doing from the corner of their eyes. Fez, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, twiddling his fingers; Kelso alternating between scratching his chin and then his head. They started at the same time:

"Fez, I know it got weird-"

"Kelso, I'm sorry if I embarrassed you-"

They stopped. Kelso nodded politely, "Go first." While Fez shook his head, "No, you. I insist." "No, no Fez, _I_ insist." "Oh, but Kelso, _I_ interrupted _you_."

It soon became quiet again. Finally, Kelso just shrugged, "Know what, let's forget everything!"

Fez happily agreed, "Okay, brother!" He then held out his hand, "Let's shake on it!"

Kelso gripped Fez's hand in his own, goofily smiling, "Shake away, my friend!"

As they shook hands, Eric flew inside the kitchen, looking wild and nervous beyond approach, "Guys! Was Donna here? What did she say? What did she do?"

Kelso and Fez slowed their handshake, Kelso admitting, "Dude, it was weird. She said some guy was gonna hurt me. I hope she didn't take a hit out on me with like the mafia or somethin'! Like, for the last time, I took those pictures of her in her shower on accident!"

Fez nodded, "Yes, and he accidently shared them with me!"

Eric shook his head. He should've known better than to ask Kelso or Fez about anything. He then paused, noticing the interlocking hands of his friends, "Why're are you guys holding hands?"

Both paused, staring down at their hands. Quickly they let go of one another, Kelso shaking his head, "It was an innocent handshake!"

"Very manly!" Fez insisted, "No funny business!"

"Uh huh!" Kelso cried out, "As manly as manly can get!"

Fez pointed between himself and Kelso, "Totally men."

Kelso agreed, "Yeah, we're so manly, and completely un-womanlike!"

"Absolutely! We are a woman-free zone, us two!"

"That's right!" Kelso said, his nodding so fast Eric had to concentrate to see his eyes.

Eric finally did a single nod, "O-kay. I'll just, um, see you guys later then."

As Eric left, giving Kelso and Fez confused second glances as he walked to his trusty Vista Cruiser, Kelso turned to Fez, "That was weird."

"Him or us, because I sorta feel that everyone in this kitchen this morning was a little weird. Jackie taking off angrily was weird. Donna taking off more angrily… Hyde taking off in a huff with a touch of anger… Eric with paranoia with a hint of anger." Fez acknowledged, folding his arms across his chest as Eric pulled out of the driveway. He then turned to his tall friend, "You know what Kelso? This is just an angry kitchen this morning. Imagine what Red'll be like when he comes down here!"

Kelso shook his head, "We better not stick around and find out! My ass is too beautiful to have a foot in it!"

Fez immediately darted toward the sliding door, the thought of Red's anger enough to fuel him as he said, "And I am too young to die! I have not yet experienced the pleasure of not being a virgin!"

Both boys scrambled out of the kitchen in a hurry.

))))

Franklin Street.

Jackie stared at the green street sign above her, groaning at herself, "I should've known better than to stomp away! My house is forever away and cars keep passing me by! Honking!"

At that moment a sea-green Volkswagon pulled up, the occupant, a one Timmy Higgins, climbed out of the passenger window up to his waist and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Heeeeeyyyyyyyyyyyyy! It's Jackie Burkhart! We thought the football players gotcha!" And with that, he wormed his way back inside the car, laughing it up with the driver.

Jackie narrowed her eyes at as the car disappeared behind a suburban home, "I hate that guy."

And soon another car pulled up, this one slowing by her. The window to the pink convertible rolled down, something Jackie herself wasn't sure why since she could see perfectly well who was inside without the window. At the wheel were Leslie Canon and Pam Macy. Both blonds seemed really paranoid. Jackie was about to ask if they needed something when Pam Macy squeaked, "Jackie! Holy crap! You're alive!"

Jackie raised an eyebrow at this, "Um… yeah. I'm alive."

Leslie shook her head, her voice anxious, "Jacks, it's crazy right now. Four cheerleaders are left unaccounted after last night's craziness."

Pam Macy nodded eagerly, "Four cheerleaders aren't accountants!"

Leslie Canon seemed genuinely worried, an emotion Jackie never thought the older girl possible of until this moment. Leslie continued, "You were one of 'em, but I guess yer boyfriend got you outta there."

Pam nodded, "Yeah, you were one but something something boyfriend."

Jackie made a face, "Actually no. He didn't."

Leslie pulled back, shocked, "He didn't?"

Pam Macy pulled back, an exaggeration of Leslie's previous action, "He didn't?"

Jackie shot Pam an annoyed look, "I just said he didn't."

Leslie asked her, "Then who got you out of the field? That place was a madhouse! Even those band freaks were victims."

Pam nodded again, "The Who is a band full of freaks and then there was a field!"

Jackie was so fed up with the day she couldn't help but glare at Pam, "What's up with you? Did you just take stupid pills this morning?"

While Leslie withheld her snort, Pam Macy's face was the picture of shock, "No, just birth control pills, whore!"

Leslie patted the girl's arm beside her, telling Jackie, "Take it easy on her. She downed a few shots of hard liquor this morning. It was the only way to convince her to go out with me to look for the other girls."

At this Jackie raised her eyebrow, "Pam Macy stayed the night with you?"

Leslie nodded seriously, "Yeah, like three West Lake football players went straight for her at once. It traumatized the shit of her, got her real shaken up."

"Oh my God!" Jackie cried out, reliving a fear of her own when two players zeroed in on her, "Is she okay? Shouldn't she be at a hospital?"

Leslie waved it off, "Nah, me and my boyfriend Todd Bradley spotted them chasing Pam here. He took out his magnum and fired a few shots in the air, scaring two of 'em off, but the third was a little harder. While he and Todd fought over the gun, I pulled Pam to safety. She was shaken up and crying-"

At that Pam Macy looked up sharply, "I was not crying!" But her shaky voice and wide eyes gave away at her hidden fear over the incident.

Leslie continued, "We ran under the bleachers for safety. There we spotted Coach Ferguson curled up in a little ball, asking for his mommy. I told him that Todd needed help, but he kept shushing me and telling me to shut up or the West Lakers would spot us there. And like, I was afraid for Todd. I heard a gunshot go off and I told Ferguson to keep an eye on Pam because she was just babbling and out of it. I didn't trust her by herself. So, he promised to look after her while I went out looking for Todd. Finally I found him, a bullet hole in his shoulder-"

"No way." Jackie breathed. She couldn't believe good-looking, Alpha male Todd Bradley would really take a bullet for his girl. The guy must be a regular Prince.

Pam Macy seemed ashamed, murmuring to Leslie, "Sorry about that."

Leslie placed an arm around Pam, shaking her head, "It's not your fault." She then looked up, telling Jackie, "Todd was lucky. Remember his brother Jake?"

At Jackie's nodding, Leslie continued, "Jake went out looking for his brother, saw Todd in trouble, and beat the football player with a tuba! I have no idea where he found a tuba, but he did. So Jake took Todd to the hospital, and I took Pam and a few other girls we spotted along the way to my place. So we all stayed there for the night, my daddy and my older brothers playing lookout the entire night."

Jackie had to ask in a quiet voice, "So a lot of those West Lakers are still out there, huh?"

Leslie shrugged, "No clue. I think so. Like, we all heard the sirens going on all night! But then again, we live two blocks from the police department. But anyway, I woke up at like four this morning and I just wanted to scour the town to see if all our girls made it out alright, even the ugos. So I left the other girls at my house and convinced Pam here to come along with me."

Pam nodded seriously, "With the help of Jack Daniels and a few of his pals, including this guy." At this, Pam held up the rifle she had on her lap, and Jackie briefly wondered why she hadn't spotted it before.

Leslie continued, "Nobody heard about you, but I figured you spent the night at your boyfriends since no one saw Kelso either."

Jackie stood up, nodding, "We spent the night with the Forman's."

Pam asked her, "All of you? Including the weird foreign kid and the redheaded tomboy?"

"Yeah," Jackie nodded, trying not to feel too uncomfortable talking about Donna, "All of us."

Leslie shrugged, "Well that's good. I know your dad's out of town a lot and your mom's always at Cancoon. So at least you didn't spend the night alone."

Pam Macy mumbled in a hushed voice, "I couldn't sleep last night. It just kept replaying over and over in my head."

Leslie agreed, "Me too, like if Todd wasn't there…" She shuddered, "Don't even wanna think about it." She then turned to Jackie, "And what about you? What were yer dreams about?"

Jackie paused, recollecting her dreams about waffles. She felt foolish saying such a thing out loud so she made something up, "The fiasco. Yes, definitely that."

Leslie then glanced around, "You wanna hop in with us? Like, I don't think it's safe for you to be walking around by yourself, like some of those West Lake people are still wandering about."

Pam Macy nodded seriously, "We're safer in larger numbers, Jackie."

Jackie couldn't believe it. For once Pam Macy made sense. She offered a tiny shrug before hopping in the back of the convertible, "Alright, so we're we headed?"

As the pink convertible began to pull away from the curb, Leslie threw over her shoulder, "We're gonna check the next couple of blocks and then we're gonna head over to the hospital to check on my knight in shining armor."

"She means Todd!" Pam Macy told her, rolling up the windows.

As they made a turn to the next street, slowing down to see if anyone needed help after last night's debacle, Leslie asked Jackie, "So where's your knight in shining armor?"

Jackie shrugged, spotting what looked like the hideous haircut of Big Rhonda, hiding in a trash can, "I don't wanna talk about it. Anyways," she pointed at the trash can, "I think that's Big Rhonda. Stop, she might need help."

Leslie slowly stopped the car and as all four girls jumped out of the convertible, Pam Macy made sure the rifle was loaded as she steadied it on her shoulder, keeping a lookout.

Eric slowly drove around Jackie's mansion. He'd been circling it for the better part of an hour, convinced that she would show up there eventually, but she never did. Now he was growing worried.

He drove around other sites he felt Jackie would venture off to: The Mall, a few Hair Salons, heaven forbid he even checked Kelso's house. All turned up empty.

He was just about to call it quits when spotted a pink convertible in the parking lot of the hospital his mother worked at. He quickly circled around and parked right next to it. He didn't know why, but he was sure that a pink convertible was a direct tie to Jackie. If he really thought about it, he would have to admit that the main reason he thought such a thing was because it was pink.

As he entered the main area, he asked Debra at the front desk if his mother came in that day. Debra checked his mother's schedule but even Eric knew that his mother was probably not in, she always tried to get off on the weekends. So imagine his surprise when he learned that Kitty Forman was in, arrived at two in the morning and had been working with multiple teens who were hurt during the football game.

Immediately Eric went to his mother's station, finding her coaching several nurses in proper bedside manner. As soon as the mini-meeting let up, Kitty turned to see her son. She tried to smile, but even Eric could see the fatigue in her bright eyes.

"Hi mom."

"Oh, hello sweetie. I'm sorry I couldn't be at the house to make everybody breakfast but the hospital called and they needed some extra help-"

Eric raised up his hand, "It's okay mom. You don't have to explain to me."

After a brief pause, Kitty wrapped her pink shawl tight around her shoulders, shrugging, "I saw a young man wheeled in here as soon as I arrived, Eric. You may know him, Todd Bradley?"

Eric remained silent. Todd and his brother Jake had bullied him from 3rd grade to 7th grade straight. The only reason either of them laid off him was because Donna beat Todd up and strung him on a flag pole and threatened to tell everyone that Jake played with Barbie dolls. Eric actually saw Todd dangling from the flagpole one morning, and often wondered if Jake really did play with dolls. But he left it alone. Neither one picked on him anymore, and he had Donna to thank for that. It just made him feel all the more guilty.

"Yeah mom, I know him." He replied with a heavy voice.

Kitty nodded, slightly trembling, "The boy was rushed in here with a bullet hole in the shoulder. He'll live, but all the same, when I think about those hours when you and Jackie were missing I get all tense inside and-"

Her voice was rushed at the end, high pitched.

Eric was about to tell her that everything turned out okay but suddenly his mother closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. She released it slowly. When she reopened her eyes, she seemed to have gain some of her stability back, because her voice was much firmer than before, "I need to check some other patients. Thank you for stopping by, honey, but I think it's best if you go home- straight there. I'll get back as soon as I can. I'll even make your favorite: Fried chicken, you'll like that, won't you?"

Eric felt awkward, smiling at her. Here he was, a grown son, being treated like a child. And a part of him felt grateful for that, "Yeah mom, I'd like that."

She patted his hand encouragingly, "Good! And make sure your father doesn't kill Michael or the foreigner. You know how much he despises stupidity." And with that, she was gone.

Eric simply stood there for a moment, wondering what he was doing. He was chasing a girl that he pretended to loathe for the majority of his life, while he hurt another girl who defended him. He chased after her while all hell broke loose the night before. And here he was, chasing her again, except this time it could've been a wild goose chase. How could he possibly track down anyone who was in a pink convertible? It's not as if it's owners had nametags that read, 'the driver of the pink convertible.' He originally thought he'd stall by talking to his mother, a thought he was ashamed to realize was an afterthought, as his mother seemed really shaken by the events of the previous night. Here she was, worried about her baby boy, and there he was, chasing after a girl. A sudden pang hit his heart. Maybe Donna was right. Maybe he was selfish and only thinking about himself.

Without a second thought, he turned on his heel, ready to leave the hospital. As he walked through the exit doors, Jackie Burkhart walked with Pam Macy to a nearby vending machine. Pam told the younger girl about how guilty she would feel if anything happened to Todd and Leslie. Jackie nodded politely but paused and looked up just as Pam finished pushing the buttons on the vending machine, "I guess I can afford to eat some chips, I mean yesterday I had quite the workout, right? Gotta count for something. Uh, Jackie?"

The brunette blinked, shaking her head, "Uh, yeah?"

"You okay?"

Jackie tapped her finger against her chin, "I don't know. I felt a tug, like, in my heart, like… it was sinking."

Pam bent down to collect her chips from the vending machine, quirking an eyebrow, "A sinking heart?"

Jackie nodded again, pressing her hand to her chest, "It feels… like the weight of the world is on it. Ah!" There was one tiny sharp pinprick, and then it was gone. Nothing, as if there never was any pain to begin with.

"That's weird," Jackie mumbled, "It's gone."

Pam nodded, eating her Doritos, "Maybe it's from last night?"

Jackie shrugged her shoulders, not quite as intent as Pam was to blame everything on last night, "I don't think so. I just, I felt hopeless, and… ashamed. It was just, well, weird. And then it was gone."

Pam shrugged herself, "I've never felt anything like that before. Anyway, I should probably get Big Rhonda her M&M's. She threatened me if I didn't return with her chocolates soon, and you know, for a chick who gets picked on a lot, she sure is pushy!" As Pam dialed the numbers for Big Rhonda's candy, Jackie shook her head, looking around aimlessly as if she lost something that was near to her.

"I just don't get it…." The brunette breathed.

)(!~

"I just don't get it…" Donna trailed off, talking to Hyde as she blew her nose for the twelfth time, "I really thought we had a good thing going. I honestly thought he was the one. And then he just… shoves me aside for that three foot princess!"

Hyde gently rubbed her shoulder, taking in everything she told him willingly as they sat at the edge of her bed.

Finally Donna rolled her eyes, "I can't believe I was so stupid."

"You weren't stupid." He offered, "Just blinded. And that's what love does. It blinds."

At that moment, there was a knock at the door. Both looked up to see Eric Forman standing at the doorway, his eyes glossy and heartbroken. He never wavered from the looks of anger that were shot his way. Instead he took a step forward and asked Hyde, "Can you leave me and Donna alone for a minute? We need to talk."

Hyde looked over at Donna, arching his eyebrow in silent permission. The young redhead sniffled, nodding slowly. Hyde slowly stood up, placed his aviators on his nose, and told Eric, "One minute." And with that, he was gone.

"Donna," Eric started, going down to one knee, "I wanna make this right with you. I wanna make this right with everybody. I just want everyone to be happy again-"

Donna crumpled up her tissue, staring at him. Her eyes were a mixture of pain and distrust.

Eric couldn't take it anymore, "Please? Just say something?"

Slowly she opened up her mouth, "How can you make this right?"

Eric looked around, at a loss until he finally looked at her, his jaw firm and committed, "We could… start over again. I promise I'll be better. I'll do better. I'll give us a real shot."

Donna paused, staring at his intense gaze before saying, "You can try Eric, but it won't fix a thing. You can't change your feelings… I've learned that today with Hyde."

"We can try!" Eric persisted.

"And what about Jackie?" She asked slowly, "Are you just gonna forget about her?"

Eric paused, thinking this through. It was Jackie herself who said it was a bad idea to be together to begin with. Maybe she just didn't want to be with him after all it was just he was too thick to see it, as he just heard Hyde describe, love is blind. Maybe he was blinded, and now, that he was thinking things through correctly, the veil was being lifted. And the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Hyde always implied he didn't treat Donna good enough, and recently he didn't, so now he would. Donna still wanted to be with him, so now he'd be with her- fully. Kelso loved Jackie, in his way, and Jackie constantly denied that there was anything between them. So now there would be no backstabbing Kelso and Jackie could be the one thing she always claimed she was: right.

Everything seemed to work out. Everybody else would be happy, and deep down, he just wanted please them. So Eric Forman looked up and asked Donna, "Will you marry me?"

Donna dropped the tissue in her hands, eyes gaping as wide as her mouth, shell-shocked by his question.


	10. Chapter 10

**10- Are You Ready?**

Kelso sat by his foreign buddy, telling him with a wide smile, "I heard Pam Macy is running around with a shot gun! I mean, Pam Macy? I don't know what's scarier, the fact that they're still rounding up those West Lake people or that the girl who couldn't toss a rock straight has a gun."

Fez nodded but offered a reason, "I do not know Kelso, when we walked over here," he gestured to the Hub, from the groups of people huddled together with their makeshift weapons to the big guy playing pinball, "a lot of people were on edge. Rumor has it Todd Bradley was shot a bunch o times and that Leslie Canon is pregnant with their unborn child."

"Don't trust rumors," Kelso told him, taking a bite out of his sundae. He chewed ice cream with his mouth open, explaining to Fez as if he knew all the answers to the world, "I bet anything Todd's fine. Probably laying around at his house with his hot, un-pregnant, girlfriend."

"How can you be so sure?" Fez asked, sipping his cherry cola.

Kelso swallowed, "Coz rumors can never be trusted! I once heard a rumor that Hyde was planning to blow up the school. And even though Old Main Elementary school was nearly burned to the ground, who's to say Hyde did it, huh? Maybe lightning struck it or something. And I also heard a rumor that Donna was from a secret colony of Amazons in Wisconsin. And that's just stupid! Everybody knows that Amazons live in the Amazon Rain Forrest in Africa! And Donna doesn't live in Africa, so she can't be an Amazon! And then I heard this _other_ rumor that Jackie had a wandering eye! Can you believe it? Jackie Burkhart wanting anyone else when she has a stud like me?"

Fez shrugged, "But what if she does. Then what?"

Kelso kept smiling, liking his chocolate syrup covered face, "But she doesn't."

Fez was about to open his mouth in protest about how obvious it was that something was going on with Eric and Jackie, but he quickly closed it, opting to instead drink his cola.

Kelso's smile grew too large on his face as he popped another scoop of ice cream in his mouth, "Jackie only wants me. I'm her Apollo Rocket of Love after all!"

Fez quietly nodded.

(?!))

"Marry you? Eric, are you nuts! You love another woman!" Donna cried out, getting to her feet.

"Yeah, I do!" Eric protested, "But…but…uh…um…"

As he fell flat on his words, Donna nodded, "Exactly. 'But-uh-um-er-ah-eh-ugh!'"

Eric slumped his shoulders, admitting, "But Donna, you've done so much for me, and we ended so badly, I just don't want you to hate me. You're like, like my best friend!"

She stared at him for a while, really staring at him. Finally she sighed, reaching up to her own black eye from the night before and told him slowly, "You see this bruise?"

He slowly nodded.

She sighed, "I'm gonna be away for a while, Eric. My mom wants to go to California to visit my grandmother, and I think I'm gonna go with her. We'll be gone a week at most, but knowing my mother and her terrible sense of direction, it could be longer. I'm hoping that as soon as this bruise heals, I'll be back in the basement, and I'll be your friend again. But it needs time to heal, Eric. Do you understand this?"

Again he slowly nodded.

She then nodded slowly, scratching the back of her neck, her face betraying her conflicted feelings of betrayal and friendship.

"So, I'll, uh," He swallowed, "I'll see you when you get back?"

Donna shrugged, chewing on her lower lip, "Sure."

He tried to go in for a hug, but she blocked him and held out her hand for a handshake. He clumsily took it, and they shook hands for two minutes straight before she told him, "Bye, Eric."

"Bye." He mumbled. As they broke hands, he turned toward her bedroom door.

"Donna?"

"Hm?"

"Thanks," He started, one foot out the door, "For not like, beating me up or making me eat dirt after you found out about… well, y'know."

As he turned, she called back to him, "Eric?"

He quickly turned to see her, "Yeah?"

She gave him a sad smile, her eyes glassy as she repeated words she never thought she'd say again, "Thanks for the ride."

That was the last time he would see her in a long time.

)(?!)

1968:

The Forman's Backyard:

"I am the princess and Michael, you are my prince. Now the evil witch-" a short girl with dark pigtails pointed to the overall wearing tall redheaded girl with her hair pulled into a sloppy ponytail, "that's you Donna." The tall girl scowled, "I hate playing these stupid games! You always make me the witch!"

The shorter girl rolled her eyes, "You brought the broom, Donna."

"You told me to bring the broom!" The taller girl shot back, "This isn't fair!"

The shorter girl groaned, "Ugh! Will you please be quiet so I can continue the layout for the story?!"

The tall girl huffed, throwing the broom across the yard in a fit of anger, "I don' wanna play the witch anymore!" She then stomped the ground, "I don' wanna, I don' wanna, I don' wanna!"

"Why not?" The shorter girl challenged, ignoring the snickers of the tallest boy with headgear and the curly haired boy in sunglasses.

Donna threw up her arms, "I'm jus' tired of always playing the bad guy! This week I'm a witch, last week I was an alien, the week before I was a fire-breathing monster!"

The boy with headgear chuckled, "Don't forget the time you were Herpes!"

Donna narrowed her eyes at the boy, "Thanks Kelso, but you can stop it now."

The boy with the long curly hair snickered, shoving his hands in his camo jacket, "And then there was the time you were serial killing ghost. That was my favorite."

Donna rolled her eyes, "Seriously Hyde, you can stop it now or I'll mention the time _she_ made you manservant in her Cinderella story."

Kelso went howling at that, pointing at their other small friend who was busy inspecting the autumn leaves in the backyard, "Hey Eric! Remember Jackie's Cinderella story?"

The boys face deepened in a hard blush as he shook his head feverishly that he didn't.

Kelso laughed, "I was the prince, Jackie was the princess, Hyde was a manservant and Donna was the evil stepmom and you were the step sister!"

Hyde's face crinkled with un-amusement, "Shut up Kelso."

Kelso's laughter died down to chuckles as he elbowed his curly haired friend in the ribs, "It was funny 'coz he wore a dress! And it was funnier 'coz you were in tights!"

Hyde's eyes darted to Donna who was obviously trying to hold back a smile at the thought. His ears quickly reddened as he snorted at Kelso, "Well you looked stupid with a pillow over yer head!"

"It was my hat!" Kelso defended.

"And a sheet tied around her neck!" Hyde added, "You looked like an escaped mental patient!"

"It was my cape and all heroes have capes!" Kelso boldly defended.

"You kept jumping around and screaming!" Hyde shouted at him, "Mrs. Forman thought you were having a seizure at one point!"

Kelso huffed, "I was trying to get my cape to flow 'coz everybody knows all heroes have flowing capes!"

Hyde crossed his arms, "And I guess all heroes have plungers too, huh?"

Kelso soon got cross, "That was my mighty sword of thunder and stop making fun of me!"

Donna crinkled her nose at the memory, "You kept shoving my favorite stuffed animal between yer legs and that's just disgusting. I couldn't cuddle with it anymore knowing what you did to it and I had ta give it away ta charity!"

"Mr. Ed was my noble steed!" Kelso shouted, now getting hot under the collar, "You guys have no artistic senses, do ya?!"

Eric then walked over to his friends, shaking his head, "Everyone, I think we should lay off of Kelso."

Kelso nodded, smiling at his short friend, "Thank you, Eric!"

Eric slyly smirked, "We wouldn't want him to attack us with his mighty plunger of thunder."

Donna and Hyde broke into soft chuckling, trying to hide their faces from Kelso as the older boy's face fell, "Ah! How dare you!"

Jackie shouted at the top of her lungs, "Ugh! You all are so stupid! This is my story and I want it told my way!"

Donna stopped her silent laughter to tell Jackie immediately, "If you make me a witch, so help me, I'll curse you!" She then picked up a fallen tree branch, waving it slowly as if it were a dangerous wand.

Jackie groaned, "Fiiiiiiinnnnee."

Donna beamed, lowering her wand, "Great! What am I?"

"A Queen." Jackie promptly answered, resisting the urge to smile mischievously.

Donna gave her stamp of approval, "I like the sound of that." She then placed her hands on her hips, aiming her chin high at the sky, "I am a Queen!"

Jackie quickly added, "Yes, you are the evil Queen who wants me dead."

Donna's face fell, "Jackie, c'mon!"

The small girl in dark haired pig tails smirked, taking a small bow as she lifted the hem of her skirt by half an inch, lowering her head politely, "And I, am Snow White!"

Donna couldn't help but mumble to Hyde, "After a month of her turning me into the bad guy, I kinda do want to chase her into the dark, enchanted forest. Maybe then I'll get some peace." Hyde chuckled, "She's Kelso's friend, not ours." Donna nodded, mumbling, "Right."

Jackie clapped her hands, getting Hyde's attention, "You are the huntsman."

Hyde shrugged. Huntsman was an upgrade from manservant.

The short girl than turned to the boy with headgear, "And Michael, you will be the prince."

Donna shook her head, "I object!"

Jackie raised an eyebrow at this, "What?"

Donna gestured over to Kelso, "He's always the prince! Maybe it's time you give someone else a try." She then pointed to Eric's Labrador puppy, Cupcake, "I suggest you give Cupcake a go."

"My prince will not be a dog." Jackie told the smirking girl flatly. She then looked over at her boyfriend-to-be, Michael Kelso, watching him as his eyes widened with pure love for the dog.

'If only he looked at me that way.' She sighed before looking over at Eric. The shortest boy was wiping dirt off his shoes, careful not to get any on his corduroy pants. Kitty was always worried about that, and Eric did his best to be clean for his mother.

She then nodded, making her final decision when Kelso dank to his knees, rolling all over the ground with Cupcake, letting the dog lick his mouth.

"Okay, Michael, you're the dwarf with seven split personalities. Cupcake will be your only companion."

Kelso looked up, shock, "What? But I thought I was the prince!"

Jackie pointed between him and the puppy, "You have dog slobber all over you! You're not kissing me like that!"

Kelso looked at Cupcake, the puppy wagging it's tail and pressing it's wet nose on his knee. He then shrugged, "Okay, I guess I can be a crazy dwarf."

Jackie then promptly turned to Eric, "Are you ready?"

The boy tilted his head, confused, "Ready?"

Jackie nodded as if it the most obvious thing in the world, "Mm-hm, to be my Prince Charming!"


	11. Chapter 11

**I wrote this a few months back, around July-August but I felt something was not quite right and I kept working at it until I eventually paused and moved on to other things, hoping the time away could give me a fresher prospective on the story. But, with how things are going lately, I returned to it and was a little surprised to find I didn't have to change too much, just add more of Kennedy's "New Frontier" speech at the end. And, I don't own Kennedy's speech.**

 **I wrote it all in Jackie's POV, even though it's not italicized.**

* * *

 **11- A Different World**

What is a goodnight kiss?

It's something that tells you, everything is going to be alright. That the world, no matter how scary it is, won't hurt you; and if, (in a million to one shot) it does hurt you, it won't matter, because this one kiss protects you. It comforts you.

A parent to their child, a mother to her son, or daughter.

A father, with his daughter, or son.

Two lovers, cradled against one another, shielded from the world in each other's warm embrace.

Or perhaps two friends, one surviving a horrifying experience, and a true friend hears the call and is there, whispering that in the end, everything will be alright.

The power a simple kiss wields, a connection, between two human beings. They close their eyes, silently putting one day to rest, and welcoming a bright, new, day. Hopefully it will be a better day, a better tomorrow.

As President John F. Kennedy said, in his speech, that we live on the edge of a new frontier. Of course, I don't remember this. I was only two when he was assassinated.

It is one of my earliest memories, the earliest memory in fact, of sitting at the breakfast table in a high chair I suppose, I don't really remember what I was sitting on. Henrietta was there, in the kitchen somewhere while I sat in the dining room. It's all fuzzy, but I think I remember it that way. She was making something, and I like to imagine it was waffles, but in reality, I have no idea what she was cooking. And then suddenly the kitchen staff went scrambling out of the second room of the kitchen, the one with a walk-in pantry. They were screaming and weeping, even the men.

I had never seen a man cry before.

I think that's why I remembered it, it was so shocking to me.

And when Henrietta came out of the kitchen, her face had visibly paled, she slowly walked up to me, pulled out a sweet smile, and asked me if I wanted… a toy? One of my toys fell to the ground? I can't remember, maybe she was asking me if I was hungry. I… I hate that I can't remember those details.

Whatever she said, my response was an enthusiastic, "Choco-mil!" Chocolate milk. I used to love chocolate milk as a child and for a while I claimed it was my name. Every day I asked her for chocolate milk, and every day she declined, stating it was bad for my health, with the exception of that one time.

That day I got 'Choco-mil'.

I think she gave it to me, to keep me quiet. Or maybe it was because she felt that the world was spinning out of control, and this was the one thing she could control, giving a little girl her favorite drink. So, she did it.

I know I'm probably not supposed to remember that young, but I do. I guess everyone's behavior was so different and depressing that it was somehow engrained in me. And it saddens me to think that the day the President of the United States was assassinated, I got chocolate milk.

In a strange contrast, I barely remember 1968.

I think I wanted a pony, or maybe it was a full thoroughbred horse. I don't know. But I do know things were changing all over the country, but I didn't know what they were. My father shielded me from this, kept me in a bubble, and told me everything would be alright as he kissed the top of my head.

It was April when Martin Luther King Jr. was shot in Memphis, at a motel I think.

It was around Easter, but for the life of me I couldn't tell you is it was before or after.

I didn't know who he was, but I knew he must've been important because I heard a lot about him on the news. Once, I asked my mother who he was, and she just sloshed another drink down her throat, telling me he was just another troublemaker.

I didn't know if I should believe her. She once claimed Santa Claus should be charged with breaking and entering, and mumbled something about the man being "a little too friendly with kids." She made him seem like a bad guy, and I loved Santa.

And then Bobby Kennedy died. He was also shot. I remember finding out watching the news in daddy's study. My father quickly rolled up his newspaper and ordered me upstairs. I told him I wanted to stay and find out what happened to the man who got shot. My father yelled at me, slapping my shoulder with the newspaper.

I grudgingly went upstairs.

When my mother saw me pass her bedroom, she asked me to come sit by her. She had a rag on her forehead, laying down in a blue dress with white pearls on top of her pristinely white king-sized bed. She asked me why father yelled at me, told me she could hear it from her room but she couldn't make out the words.

I told her a man got shot.

She mumbled, "I know…. Another one."

I remember asking her, "Was he a troublemaker too?"

She was quiet for a moment before nodding slowly, "Yes."

"Who'd he make trouble for?"

"… The wrong people." She then turned on her side, back to me, staring out of a window with the curtains drawn, whispering, "My God, when will it end?"

I don't think she meant for me to hear, but I asked her anyways, "When what will end, momma?"

Her voice dropped lower, whispering names of people. She said "el- Hajj Malik el-Shabazz" in there. It was such a strange name and so foreign sounding, I actually remembered it. It wasn't until after socializing with Steven Hyde that I would learn this "Shabazz" guy was Malcom X. Steven had been shocked that I didn't even know of his assassination since it apparently meant a lot to him. And Hyde told me, "It's obvious how little you care about anything other than yourself! I mean, before you know it, you'll claim you've never even heard of Vietnam!"

I didn't hear of Vietnam, but I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing that. And, well, I was also a bit ashamed that I didn't know. Especially when I learned many people did know, and discussed it quite actively, but I just never bothered to listen to them.

I didn't know what "The Freedom Riders" were.

I didn't know about Stonewall.

I didn't know about "The Feminine Mystique."

All these changes happened right by me, as I was kept in my happy, little bubble. Though I did notice my mother took up drinking more actively, often alone in our garden, gazing out at the sky. She once remarked, "All we need now is for a Beatle to be shot down and the world will officially go to shit."

When the musicians overdosed, Hendrix, Joplin and the lead singer from the Doors (Steven will know his name, I forget off the top of my head), mother really started to lose it. She started throwing full bottles of wine on the pristinely white living room floor, shouting in drunken anger that "the young ones are dying".

I didn't get it. So what if a bunch of pot-smoking rebel rockers died? What did this have to do with anything? I didn't like bands or rockers anyway. I eventually asked daddy if she would be okay. He just told me that he would take care of it. He got a friend of his who was a doctor to prescribe pills to her, anti-depressants or something.

But mother never took them. She was too busy saying how "this was not how it was supposed to be" and "Camelot has fallen."

I again asked daddy to help her. Her erratic drinking had always scared me, but now it was terrifying me to the core. What if she killed herself like this?

But instead of helping her, father fled to Tokyo to continue a relationship with some woman I never even bothered learning the name of.

My mother just wanted out. Out of Vietnam, out of this ugly, turbulent world, out of her marriage… she just wanted out.

She had supported Nixon, hoping desperately that he would help reshape the country. He reminded her of another age, and he frequently spoke good of Eisenhower. She was convinced that Nixon would carry some of the former President Eisenhower's charm with him, and he would change things for the better.

I asked why that was.

Mother said it was because that when she was young, she couldn't stand growing up in the Eisenhower "button-down" era, but looking back, it wasn't so bad and she wished for it again.

And then Watergate happened.

I expected her to fall to pieces.

But she just led me to her personal bedroom (the one on the far side of the mansion, away from the previous bedroom she shared with daddy) and laughed, and poured another drink. Except this time she offered me one, pouring it right in front of me. It was Vodka.

I didn't particularly care for the drink, I mean, I'm not Russian, why would I? It burned my throat horribly and it was more of a man's drink. But I took it, hesitantly. Keep in mind that I was thirteen at this point, but I knew that if I wasn't careful, I could potentially become a drinker like my mother.

She clanked her good crystal against the good crystal in my hand, smiling, "To the death of the 'New Frontier'!"

I didn't get it, but I drank anyway.

She encouraged me to drink every last drop, but I only got halfway before I started to choke. I quickly stopped, the burning in my throat so harsh I felt as if I just consumed fire.

My mother didn't seem to notice as she poured herself another drink, telling me, "Know what kills me? I voted Democrat."

Again, I didn't get it.

She must have read the look of utter confusion on my face, because then she elaborated as if I was the stupidest person in the room, "With Jack Kennedy, I voted Democrat." She pressed her lips against the rim of her glass, saying with a gurgle, "Sometimes I think if I didn't, he wouldn't have won. And if he wouldn't have won, none of these deaths and destruction would ever have taken place."

I could feel the confusion written all over my face as she let this woeful sigh escape her red lips, "Maybe I shouldn't have hoped. It set me up for such a downfall…" She whispered so low I had to strain my ears to hear, "Why did I have to be such a sucker and believe?"

She gulped down her second drink, smirking at me lopsidedly, "But it was tough resisting his charms, though. He is quite a man…"

An odd look wafted across her face. It almost looked… lustful? Her smirk grew into a smile, and her eyes had a small twinkle in them, and for a moment, I could have been fooled into thinking she was happy.

And then another look came across her face, one of remembering something of long ago. It must have been a terrible fact, because her eyes lost their twinkle, and her smile fell to a frown. Slowly, she set the glass on a nearby cabinet table, and shook her head as she quietly corrected, " _Was_ quite a man."

She then looked at me, her face a little… what was the word? Sorrowful?

"I'm sorry."

She told me two words.

I honestly thought she was apologizing for her terrible drinking habit. I was about to say something upon the lines of her taking it easy from now on.

But then she said, "For this place you've inherited."

The mansion?

"The world. It's falling to pieces, and I don't know how I can fix it for you."

I had no idea what she was talking about.

"The system is broken… it's all a lie." She then turned from me to look out the dining room window. Like that, it reminded me of her bed long ago, when the rag was on her forehead, when Senator Robert Kennedy was killed.

My mother then spoke again, clear and concise, her back to me, "Did money make it better? When I was a little girl, playing with paper dolls that would tear easily, I thought money would make it better. My dresses were left-overs from my sisters, my folks, we were po-, I mean…" She paused, collected herself so that her voice sounded a bit stronger, and then continued, "I really thought money would help. I wanted so much for my babies to have what I didn't have… It made it better for you, right?"

I wasn't sure. Did it?

I didn't even answer her. And her response was, "I was afraid of that." And then I saw her head dip, I could just imagine her eyes closed as she said, "Perhaps if I actually made trouble instead of nodding off like a brainless twit, things would've been better for us."

She continued staring out that window, as if searching for an answer when no one even asked the question.

At a loss, and feeling that this moment was critical to my relationship with my mother, I felt I couldn't leave. I kinda wanted to, it was uncomfortable, but I knew I shouldn't. So, I stood next to her, looking out the window. We stayed like that for a while, watching the sun set in the far off distance.

It was the closing of the day, and what the new one would bring didn't seem much better.

And now I felt terrible.

My heart ached.

I felt nothing but dread.

So many bad things were happening all at once, so many people dying. So much anger. So much unrest. It was a blanket of badness sweeping all over. Would it ever end?

My mother must have felt my mood change, because she then reached over and placed her arm over my shoulder, gently kissing my forehead, telling me in the most motherly tone that I haven't heard before or since, "It's okay sweetheart, everything will be alright."

Tears fell down my face.

When I was a child, my father gave me plenty of goodnight kisses, but they would always pale in comparison to the one my mother gave me that day.

It made me feel, for the first time in a long time, safe, happy, and loved. For the first time in my life, I honestly felt my mother cared for me, truly, as if she did all she could for me, and in her way would be willing to do more.

I would like to feel that again, with someone who would be willing to share their life with me, someone whose arms I could not escape from because I wanted not to escape from them. To find a love that would make Juliet Capulet jealous.

And that is what a goodnight kiss should be.

It should be love.

 _For I stand tonight facing west on what was once the last frontier. From the lands that stretch three thousand miles behind us, the pioneers gave up their safety, their comfort and sometimes their lives to build our new West. They were not captives of their own doubts, nor the prisoners of their own price tags. They were determined to make the new world strong and free—an example to the world, to overcome it's hazards and it's hardships, to conquer the enemies that threatened from within and without._

 _Some would say that those struggles are all over, that all the horizons have been explored, that all the battles have been won, that there is no longer an American frontier. But I trust that no one in this assemblage would agree with that sentiment; for the problems are not all solved and the battles are not all won; and we stand today on the edge of a New Frontier… the frontier of unknown opportunities and perils, the frontier of unfilled hopes and unfilled threats._

…

 _Beyond that frontier are uncharted areas of science and space, unsolved problems of peace and war, unconquered problems of ignorance and prejudice, unanswered questions of poverty and surplus. It would be easier to shrink from that new frontier, to look to the safe mediocrity of the past, to be lulled by good intentions and high rhetoric—_

 _But I believe that the times require imagination and courage and perseverance. I'm asking each of you to be pioneers towards that New Frontier. My call is to the young in heart, regardless of age—to the stout of spirit, regardless of Party, to all who respond to the scriptural call: "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be [thou] dismayed."_

…

 _Can a nation organized and governed such as ours endure? That is the real question. Have we the nerve and the will? Can we carry through in an age where we will witness not only new breakthroughs in weapons of destruction- but also a race for mastery of the sky and rain, the ocean and the tides, the far side of space and the inside of men's minds?_

 _Are we up to the task- are we equal to the challenge?_

… _All mankind waits upon our decision. A whole world looks to see what we will do. We cannot fail their trust. We cannot cannot fail to try._

John F. Kennedy


	12. Chapter 12

**Wrote this one pretty fast, hopefully there are no errors.**

* * *

 **12- He Was Supposed to Be A Friend**

In the basement, Eric stared at the empty spot where Kelso's chair used to be, before he broke it with a "basketball rat" story. Now it was empty, just a spot that Fez would move the tricycle at just so something could fill the space, anything.

He was alone in the basement for the first time since he was seven.

Donna was gone.

And Hyde refused to speak to him.

And Kelso and Fez were out, trying to cheer Hyde up.

And Jackie? Somewhere, he guessed.

The tip of his tongue touched the back of his molar, feeling the smooth roundness of his own teeth. It was something to do. He remembered Donna used to count her teeth when she was bored. She always ended up on odd numbers like 29 or 31. She then make a face, saying, "Wait. That's not right." And then she'd start over. Why did he miss that?

He tried to think of other things, and his attention fell to Hyde's recent behavior. And then Eric felt guilty. Why is it he always realized things when they were too late? Hyde loved Donna. It was that simple. And it was eating the zen master up inside that the girl he held such private, personal feelings was going out with his dorky best friend. But Eric had to admit, besides the beginning when Hyde fought for Donna, he had pretty much stayed out of the way in their relationship. Eric took in a deep breath, his hands wringing his brown hair. It now all made sense. Hyde was upset because he understood Eric's situation. He knew what it was like to long for your best friend's girlfriend, but unlike Eric who wanted to pursue a relationship, Hyde respected Eric enough to stay out of the way. He trusted what Donna wanted and left it up to her. Hyde was a loyal kind of guy, but that could only go so far when you knew your buddy was abusing the feelings of the girl you loved.

Eric shook his head.

How could he have been so stupid? In the beginning, he should have backed off and let Hyde have a chance with Donna. Maybe then both would still be here, in his basement, be his friends. He missed them. He missed Donna, and she was far away, journeying to California with her mother. He missed Hyde, and he was just a few blocks away at the HUB.

And he missed Jackie. He missed her so much, he regretted even proposing to Donna. What was he thinking? He supposed, he wasn't. He was just trying to make everyone be "normal" again, he wanted to help, but as he should know by now, "helping doesn't help."

And what was he going to do about Kelso? Once he found out he harbored feelings for Jackie…. It was bound to come out sometime. Would Kelso even want to be friends with him?

It was all tearing him apart inside.

But no one can place their feelings in a jar, label it, "don't feel this" and then toss it away. He didn't know what it was about Jackie, but she had a pull, a hold on him, that he just couldn't explain it. And he wasn't making excuses for it.

He was through with excuses.

Rising to his own two feet, he got off the basement couch. Slowly, he walked up the steps to the kitchen, and walked in. It was empty. He walked into the living room, and to the front door. He opened it, walked out, and closed it. There, almost in a trance, he locked the front door and proceeded to walk around the house and to the Vista Cruiser.

He unlocked his car, slid in, locked it back up and stayed there. For roughly an hour, he just sat, lost in his own thoughts. And when he finally made his decision, a decision he should have made long ago, he placed his key in the ignition and turned it.

The Vista Cruiser roared to life. And he pulled out of the driveway. For about another hour he drove aimlessly through the streets. This is when before, he felt numb, now he was beginning to feel a little anxious. His stomach tightened and contracted, his palms began to sweat. He could feel his heart pounding inside his chest. He wanted to vomit. His back suddenly sprang to life with tiny sparks of electricity. It fell down his shoulders, right to the tips of his fingers. He licked his lips. His eyes began to blur the objects, the stores. Did he pass by Price-Mart four times? He didn't know. He didn't care. He was beginning to get tunnel vision. The only thing he did feel was the lightheadedness of his mind. Now his heart began to beat faster, but for a different reason. He wanted to do this. He wanted to be happy.

He finally took a left down 1st street, instead of all those rights he had been making before, and drove until he was directly in front of the HUB. He parked. He turned off the ignition. He got out of his car, his hands trembling slightly. He locked his vehicle and slowly dragged his feet to the opening of the HUB. With a sweaty palm, he grabbed the leaver of the door and pushed open.

He walked in, kids from school hanging around. They were off for a whole week, thanks to the damage the West Lakers did to the school, but it genuinely seemed he was the only one not enjoying the free time off.

He spotted their booth.

Hyde was there, his aviators hanging around the collar of his shirt. His eyes were bloodshot. Probably from drinking too much, even for him. Next to him was Fez, trying to make him laugh was bad jokes and awkward stories. But it was painfully obvious that no matter what Fez attempted, Hyde's mood wasn't improving. On Hyde's other side sat Kelso, oblivious as always, trying to find out how many French fries he could shove in his mouth without choking. He was trying to impress these two good looking girls, but it was obvious that the only thing they felt were disgust.

And Eric stared at them for a while, remembering that these were his friends. This was his family. And he felt a little sick about what he was going to do.

He knew he was going to break it up.

With his tunnel vision blackening out almost everyone but Kelso, he willed himself forward, and with an almost dangerously mature tone, called out, "Kelso."

Kelso stopped talking to the girls with the fries in his mouth and just swallowed the big lump of fried potatoes. He then drank out of the Heinz ketchup bottle as if it were a drink and waved at Eric joyfully, "Hey Eric!"

At the mention of his name, Hyde looked up. And for a moment they stared at one another. Blue eyes meeting his. Sad, hollow blue eyes. The gaze was so intense Eric nearly blinked from the intensity of Hyde's melancholy. But in a shocking turn of events, Hyde was the one who blinked, and turned away. Fez saw this, and placed his arm around the boy he looked up to, "'S ok, Hyde. Donna will come back, you will see."

Hyde looked like he wanted to jump off a bridge. He just nodded, unable to look at Eric.

And then Eric walked forward to them. And stopped directly in front of Kelso. He walked between Kelso and the girls he was trying to impress, and the girls immediately left. Kelso slumped in his seat, "Aw, c'mon, Eric! I was makin' them laugh before!"

And then the words just came out of his mouth, smooth, clean cut and concise, "I'm in love with Jackie."

Fez's eyes widened and Hyde looked at Eric, almost in shock himself.

And Kelso just burst into laughter. At first it was loud and fast, but when he caught on that Eric wasn't laughing either, and neither were Fez and Hyde, his laughter began to die off. He looked around, looking a little lost and confused, "C'mon guys, laugh! Eric's messin' with me here!"

No one laughed.

Kelso's laughter not only stopped, it died completely.

Eric told him sternly, "I'm not kidding Kelso. I'm in love with her, and we've kissed a couple times."

At this, Fez blurted, "Oh shit."

And then something no one ever thought possible. Michael Kelso, the boy who wanted to make an invisibility formula, firecracker suit, and death ray; the boy who once got sick because he drank and ate nothing but Tang for two weeks straight, the boy who once managed to set a fire under water, the boy who always had a goofy smile on his face and a boyish twinkle in his eyes, this boy, had a very quiet look come over him. And then he looked almost murderous. Without anyone seeing him, Kelso shot to his feet and punched Eric so hard across the jaw, Eric stumbled backwards into a table and the table collapsed under his weight.

Before anyone could stop him, Kelso shouted, "TRAITOR!" And grabbed Eric by the shoulders, lifted him up, and punched him again, screaming, "You were supposed ta be my friend!" And he punched Eric again, this time breaking his nose.

People began screaming, half nearly trampling themselves to leave, the sight reminding them of West Lake, half staying so they can tell everyone else about it.

This time Hyde broke out of his shock and pushed Fez aside, jumping out and grabbing Kelso by the stomach, wrapping his arms around him. Kelso screamed, "LEMME GO!" He kicked Hyde as hard as he ever did. Hyde nearly buckled, trying his best to pull Kelso away from Eric, shouting over his shoulder, "FEZ! Get Forman outta here!"

Fez snapped to it, going to Eric and grabbing his arm, trying to stand him up, "Eric! We need to go now."

But Eric was too out of it.

And Kelso was too angry, and too strong. Hyde could barely hold him back. And then the HUB owner, Frank, walked onto the floor carrying a handgun, and firing it into the air, causing everyone to stop moving and screaming- even Kelso.

Frank shouted, mainly to Hyde, "Yo Curly! Get these degenerates outta my place of business! Don't need no more crap!"

Kelso made a sudden move, and Frank pointed the gun at him, telling him bluntly, "Look boy, I was in Vietnam. I saw things. Don't test me. I will shoot."

Kelso slumped in Hyde's arms, and Hyde was thankful. He'd never admit it out loud, but Kelso nearly got the better of him. And Fez was gently slapping Eric's face, saying as if this were every day, "Eric, wake up. We are leaving now. The proprietor has a gun."

Eric woke, semi- conscious, "Huh?"

Fez looked over to Hyde, who was still holding Kelso (but with a looser grip), "He's waking."

Hyde nodded and told Fez, "Get him to the car. He always puts the keys to the Cruiser in his left front pocket."

"Ok." Taking everything seriously but trying to lighten the mood, Fez looked over at Eric, "Could be worse. Could be Hyde who beat you up."

Fez helped walk a limping Eric to the Cruiser, opening the backseat and letting him lay down there, letting Eric mumble about non-coherent things.

When he turned around, Hyde and Kelso were outside the HUB. Hyde told him sternly, "You're driving. I'm with Kelso in the hatchback."

Fez was taken aback, "But I do not know how to drive!"

Hyde, holding onto Kelso's shoulder as the older boy glared into the backseat of the Cruiser, "Yer gonna do fine, Fez."

"I hope you have that same sentiment when I plunge into a tree!" Fez proclaimed, walking around the car to the driver's side. Hyde hollered, "Go slow! Go 20! I don't care if they honk at you!"

As Fez slid into the driver's seat, Hyde shouted, "Dude, we need the keys to open the hatchback!"

"Dammit!" Fez slipped, "Already messing up and I haven't even touched the steering wheel yet!"

Slowly getting aggravated, Hyde ran his right hand through his curls, "You're doing fine, Fez, just open-"

And then Kelso lunged toward the handle of the backseat, "I love Jackie!"

Hyde had to hook his arms over Kelso's arms, and literally haul himself away from the car as if he were throwing himself back, because Kelso's force was just too strong. Meanwhile, Fez scrambled out of the car to help Hyde. Things didn't look like they were going to get much better anytime soon.

 **1968:**

A tiny Hyde poked Kelso with a stick.

Kelso, in his sleep, mumbled something and turned on his side. Donna, the Evil Queen in Jackie's story, walked up right next to Hyde, shaking her head, "He fell asleep?"

"Yeah, I guess being a dwarf with multiple personalities really wore him out." Hyde commented.

They were both in the Forman's backyard, Hyde dressed in a Peter Pan Hat that belonged to Eric, and one of Red's old camaflodged jackets that belonged to a dead friend from the Army. He was supposed to be a huntsman. And Donna had her sloppy red hair tied into a bun, and wore a black blanket wrapped under her armpits because she was supposed to be the Evil Queen. But what bothered her the most, was that Jackie refused to share her tiara, so Donna was forced to wear a bunch of sticks on her head which Kelso laughed at and said, "You look like Jesus!"

She didn't find that funny at all, despite everyone else's smirks.

Well, they had played the parts just the way Jackie had wanted them. Donna did her best to be super evil, stirring an imaginary pot saying, "Hubble Bubble Toil and Trouble!" And asking a Mrs. Forman's hand mirror who was the fairest in all the land. Only for Kelso to snort, "Yer mom!"

A time out had to be taken because Donna ran after him and punched him a few times in the stomach.

When they resumed, Jackie- dressed as Sleeping Beauty, was led by Hyde "into the woods" which in reality was circling one tree five times until Hyde got dizzy and told Jackie flatly, "We're deep enough in the woods!"

There, he was supposed to pretend he was having a difficult time killing her, but instead had fun stabbing her with a stick he found on the ground, saying, "Yer dead. Yer dead. Yer dead. Dead again!"

Jackie got so fed up she shouted, "Either you stop it and report back to Donna or I'll stab you and make you dead!"

Hyde just giggled and poked her again, "Dead."

Jackie snapped and grabbed the stick he was poking her with and began hitting his shoulders repeatedly, "Dead! Dead! Dead! Dead!"

Hyde actually started laughing. And after a few seconds, so did Jackie. She then told him, "Now go report to the Evil Queen!"

Hyde tried to control his laughter as he walked up to Donna, knelt down on one knee, took her hand and gently kissed the top of her left hand, "My liege, the stupid, little brat is dead."

Donna shrugged, pointing at Jackie, "Then why is she still standing?"

"Donna, I'm in the woods!" Jackie told her.

"Jackie, you're five feet away from me!" Donna told her, mimicking Jackie's tone.

Jackie groaned and then ordered Kelso to enter upon the play. He was seven different Dwarfs and then some. When he slept, he was "Sleepy", when he wanted to play doctor and winked at Jackie, he was "Doc", when he was dumb, he was "Dopey", when sneezed he was "Sneezy", when he was smiling he was "Happy", when he was grumpy he was "Grumpy", and when he was shy, he was "Bashful." But Kelso being Kelso also insisted on being dwarfs only he alone swore were in Disney's animation. For example, he was also, "Fuzzy", "Bubbly", "Pudgy" and "Hungry."

And then Kelso kept kissing the puppy, Cupcake on the lips. And running with him, it was obvious at one point he wasn't interested in the story but playing with the dog. At that point, Jackie just ordered him to walk away, but instead Kelso stayed in characters and played with the dog until he eventually fell asleep under the Forman's oak tree in the backyard.

Then Jackie ordered Donna to "transform" into an old lady like the Queen did in Snow White. Donna just threw off her crown and wrapped the black blanket around herself like a shawl. She gave Jackie an apple and half-heartedly "fell" to her death as she tripped over a tree root. She tore her jeans, and just decided to go to the basement and watch TV. But before she did, she asked Hyde to go with her and together they walked over to Kelso was apparently "Sleepy" as he was under the tree, fast asleep, the dog tucked in his arms.

Eventually, Hyde and Donna shrugged him off and ran into the kitchen, hopeful to grab some of Mrs. Forman's sandwiches and lemonade before they went to the basement. And Jackie was in the backyard with Eric, who had been politely sitting on the sidelines, watching the whole thing as if it were a play. Finally, Jackie picked a spot on the grass she believed was "bug-less" and told Eric promptly, "Ok. This is the only thing you have to do- kiss me."

"Kiss you?" Eric stuttered, jumping to his feet, "I've never kissed a girl before! I want my agent!"

"Agent nothing! Eric, it's not that hard! You just press your lips together and put them on my cheek!"

"Can I imagine it instead?" He asked shyly.

Jackie rolled her eyes, "No!"

Eric closed his eyes, "I'm imagining it!" He then slowly started turning red. He then opened his eyes, suddenly nervous, "I stopped."

Jackie rolled her eyes, "I swear, all of you have no clue how to do a story properly!"

In the background, Kelso was heard yawning and smacking his gums together. Jackie then got up from her bug-less spot and marched over to Eric, grabbing him by the cheeks and pulling him down and lightly brushed her lips on his. Eric's knees grew wobbly, he almost fell. And then he closed his eyes, feeling his lips beginning to move on their own accord, his heartrate slowly beating faster and yet oddly it was somehow, what was the word? Comfortable? It was a moment that time itself stilled for just a second, and Eric felt the tips of his toes tingle. He almost smiled, and then-

They heard Kelso's yelp, "HEY!"

Instantly Eric pushed Jackie back, twitching, "She kissed me! _She_ kissed _me_!"

Kelso ran over, upset with Jackie, "Did you kiss Eric?!"

Jackie nodded confidently, "Of course I did. He's the Prince. And what are you now? Fuzzy? Angry? Stupid?!"

Kelso's face fell, "I'm not stupid!"

Jackie snapped, "You'd rather be with a dog than me!"

Eric, now uncomfortable, pointed at the backdoor, "Maybe I should leave."

Kelso turned his head to Eric, "Maybe you should stay! Eric, you can't go runnin' around, smackin' a friend's girlfriend!"

Eric twitched, " _She_ kissed _me_!"

"From what I saw, it didn't matter!" Kelso snapped.

Jackie threw up her arms, "You didn't see anything! You were asleep!"

Kelso then turned his head to a very uncomfortable and gulping Eric, "I thought you were my friend!"

 _I thought you were my friend!_

 _You were my friend!_

 _Were my friend!_

 _My friend!_

 **Now:**

In the backseat of the Vista Cruiser, Eric's eyes slowly opened. He saw a reddish ceiling of the inside of his car. He felt like he was ran over by a train, and he thought that maybe he was moving, but now that he was getting his bearings straight, he realized it was just the car. It was moving.

In front, coming from the driver's seat, he could've sworn he heard Fez's voice, "Hyde, I am going 20, but the old lady in the Cadillac behind me is flipping me da bird! I think she's calling me a slow-poke!"

"Then go 30!" Hyde shouted.

A headache soon grew in the front of Eric's head.

Behind him, he heard Hyde saying, "Kelso, calm down!"

And then he heard Kelso's strangled voice, "He was supposed to be my friend! What kind of friend does something like this?!"

And his stomach sank as he heard Hyde's voice say, "They don't."

A cool chill passed through Eric, as he painfully closed his eyes.


	13. Chapter 13

_**There's some cursing in this chapter, just giving ya'll a heads up. Might be some spelling errors, I apologize if there are.**_

* * *

 **13- Falling**

 _Sometimes I look around, around me, and wonder if everyone's gone insane. And then I think, 'wait, maybe it's always been like this and maybe now I'm just noticing it', and then I think..._

"Mrs. Forman?"

Kitty stopped folding the laundry in the basement and turned her head. She hadn't heard Jackie come in, or anyone for that matter. She was just worried about Eric. Something had been going on with him, and she suspected it was an ailment of the heart, but he was a teenage boy, and teenage boys didn't want to talk to their mothers about their problems… especially their romantic problems. And just when she was wondering what exactly happened between Eric and Donna (she had recently learned the tough redhead had up and left to California through a very distraught Bob who claimed that all women were so naturally repelled by him, that not even his own daughter was immune to it). It was so unlike Donna to leave without throwing, well- Kitty hated to admit it, but a tantrum. Donna usually yelled, threatened, once she flipped a table at a school luncheon. But for this same vocal girl to just fade away without not so much as a peep? Kitty had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. And as she lost herself in her thoughts, folding laundry, wondering what exactly was going on with Eric and his friends, she heard someone call for her. She looked up, and was pleased to see it was Jackie.

"Oh, hello! Come on in! Oh, sorry for the mess!" Quickly Kitty let out a nervous laugh and picked Red's boxers and hid them under a stack of towels. Red, despite his threatening, grumpy exterior, was always very sensitive about others seeing his underwear or legs. But Kitty always liked his legs. They weren't that hairy, and they had a very shapely look to them.

"Mrs. Forman…?" Jackie started unsurely, "Why are smiling like that?"

"Thinking of Red!" Kitty shrugged. Jackie briefly wondered if she looked like that when she thought of Eric.

"So Jackie, um," the younger girl watched the older woman contort her face into that of someone broaching a topic she wasn't sure would be well received, "What is going on between Eric and Donna?"

At that, Jackie's eyed grew as her mouth opened, but oddly no words came out- a first for her. Her mind screamed, ' _She knows! She knows_!' and another, equally panicked voice shouted back, ' _Knows what? Nothing happened_!' Only for the first part to shout back, _'_ _I don't know but she must know something, she's talking to me about Eric!'_ And then the other voice answered back, in this flat tone, ' _And Donna…_ ' And then the first voice agreed eagerly, ' _Yeah, her too!_ '

"Jackie?" Kitty asked skeptically. At this, Jackie jumped a little, her eyes a bit too frazzled as she yelped, "Yeah?!"

Kitty furrowed her eyebrows, "Why did you look like that?"

"Oh, I was thinking of… uh…"

 _Eric, you were thinking of Eric and you and kissing and wrongness and Eric!_

Jackie flashed her classic smile, shrugging, "Bette Midler… her hair is atrocious!"

Kitty sucked in her breath, appalled, "I love Bette Midler!"

Jackie blinked, thinking, ' _Why did I say Bette Midler? I wasn't even thinking of her! What the hell is wrong with my mouth_?'

At that moment, they heard a loud honk coming from the driveway, followed by Fez screaming, "How do I turn off a car!"

"What in the world?!" Kitty abandoned her laundry to see what the commotion was about in the driveway, Jackie at her heels. As soon as they reached the driveway, Jackie had to blink several times to make sure she was seeing what she was seeing or her eyes were playing tricks on her.

The Vista Cruiser was slowly driving toward the garage, maybe 5 mph. But the garage door was closed, and Fez was hanging outside the window of the car as if he was contemplating just jumping out of the vehicle. Inside, Hyde could clearly be seen holding something back, and at first Jackie thought it was a sack of potatoes before realizing it was her boyfriend- Michael, screaming, "Lemme at 'im! Lemme at 'im! He's no friend of mine!" And then, she thought someone was in the hatchback, only to be proven correct when Eric somehow crawled out of the back window and landed on the driveway pavement with his palms. Jackie had to wince at that. And then Michael got loose from Hyde and toppled out of the car, chasing Eric was scrambling to his feet. Hyde was soon out, and seemed to wrestle with his conscious before darting to the driver's seat where Fez was now screaming like a little girl.

Kitty shouted in a shrill voice, "THE GARAGE!"

That snapped Jackie out of her stunned stupor as she realized Hyde was trying to open Fez's driver's door, shouting at Fez how to unlock it. When it was unlocked, Hyde managed to shove Fez aside and turn off the vehicle just as it was an inch away from colliding with the garage.

"Phew, that was a close one!" Fez smiled, but Hyde just glared at him, his forehead caked in sweat.

"Eric!"

Kitty's shrill cry allowed Hyde and Fez to turn their heads and see the Kelso caught up with Eric, and had him pinned against the sliding doors. Jackie immediately swung into action, hitting her boyfriend's back as forcefully as she could, screaming, "Michael! Stop it!"

Kelso kept flinching as Jackie delivered her tiny blows only to let go of Eric, who immediately sunk to the floor, and turned on Jackie, his face the picture of agony as his eyes held unshed tears, "You were going behind my back… to kiss Eric? Is it true?"

Fez and Hyde got out of the car, and Kitty stayed where she was, too shocked to move.

"I-I…uh," Jackie stammered, unsure how to continue.

"It's true." Kelso nodded, his voice cracking, "If you had to cheat on me, why couldn't you pick someone else? Eric's my best friend. Why him? Do you know how much this hurts? It hurts like, a lot! More than when that firework exploded in my hand and I was rushed to the ER!"

Jackie could only say three words, her face full of guilt, "Michael, I'm sorry."

Kelso just stood staring at her, his face as complex as anyone's ever seen, as if he was trying to comprehend everything while he felt several emotions crash into him at once. And then he said, very lamely, "It's a burn, right?"

"No." Came a hiccup response from his girlfriend. After all, she still cared for him despite all the trouble they went through together. He was her first, the one she thought as a child that she would marry and grow old with, the one who would be her forever. And now, it was so painfully obvious he wasn't.

Kelso nodded, as if trying to control himself from breaking down in front of everyone, especially Mrs. Forman. And then he looked up to Jackie's face, his voice hollow, "I know I didn't deserve you, and I know sometimes I was selfish, but I would never have proposed to another girl when I was with you."

Jackie didn't quite know what he meant, and was about to ask him when Kelso gestured over his shoulder, his voice soft, "I think you should know, Eric proposed to Donna recently. She turned him down and left to California. We were talking about it at the HUB earlier."

"What?" Jackie's voice was heard saying.

Kelso nodded, "Hyde told me. He was there."

Jackie snapped her head at Hyde, but it was so hard to tell what he knew once he had his poker-face going and his classic aviators covering his eyes.

At this, Eric scrambled to his feet while Jackie turned on him, her face in disbelief, "You asked Donna to _marry_ you?"

Eric's face sobered helplessly. He did. How could he explain that? How could he explain his stupidity?

Echoing Fez's favorite curses, she shouted, " ** _You Son-of-a-Bitch_**!" And punched him in the face. In reality, the fact that it was her hitting him hurt more than the punch itself. In reality, as soon as she did it, she regretted it because now her fist was pounding, but she was hurt. She felt betrayed. And then she shook her head at him, "How could I be so stupid? You were like all the rest… And I was so blinded…"

"Jackie, NO!" Eric cried out, but she flinched and took a step back to get away from his grasp, "Don't touch me." She then turned to Kitty who was witnessing everything in shock. Jackie told her earnestly, "I'm sorry I called you a 'bitch', Mrs. Forman… I didn't mean it." She then thought of her own mother, and how she wished Pam Burkhart was more like Kitty Forman as she croaked, "I'm sorry, you're a good mom."

As Jackie walked away, appearing as if she was holding in tears, Kitty blinked, "What is all this?! So much drama, I feel like I'm watching an episode of _Dallas_!"

Kelso shook his head, disgust as he looked at his longtime friend, Eric Forman, "Was Benedict Arnold in that episode?"

Eric had had enough of being badmouthed and angrily took to Kelso, "You didn't treat her right at all! You snuck around her back with other chicks, you cared little for her happiness, so you have no room to talk!"

Kelso screamed, "How thick in the head are you?! You were supposed to be my friend and you were mackin' on my girl! You are a TRAITOR! You cannot be trusted!" Kelso then walked over to Fez and Hyde, nodding and declaring loudly, "But at least I have real friends! Friends that won't backstab me the moment they get the chance to! Like these guys! These are my friends, Eric!"

Kitty shook her head, "Now Michael, I've known you boys for far too many years to let something like this get in the way of-"

"No, mom," Eric said, his tone dark, "I got this. So those are your friends, huh? Well did you know your friends knew about me and Jackie?! Hyde knew!"

Kelso quickly untangled himself from Hyde, "Dude, you knew?!"

Hyde chose his words carefully, "I had suspicions-"

"But you didn't tell me?!" Kelso started, shaking his head so much his shaggy brown hair was flying every which way, "Oh, I get it! It's 'cause Eric's your friend, huh? You're bosom buddy who took the only girl you loved away from you! And now she's not even in Wisconsin anymore! She's in California, the sunshine state and probably getting a great tan as we speak, getting' all oiled up by some beach bum named 'Osmosis'!"

"Kelso, 'Osmosis' is a science term!" Hyde snapped, his edge lost at the mention of Donna, "And it was Donna's choice to be with Forman-"

"BULLSHIT!" Kelso laughed, "Can't you see it, or do you need to take off your glasses for a better view?!" Kelso pointed at Eric, his face to Hyde, "He STOLE our women! We didn't think it was possible, 'cause he's supposed to good, old-fashioned, trustworthy Eric Forman, but he took advantage of our trust and snagged them! First Donna, 'cause she's right next door and it's easy access and she has like, big jugs and all-"

"Kelso, shut up." Hyde told him through gritted teeth.

But he continued, "And now with Jackie because he got bored with Donna! Can't you see it! He's a fuckin' weasel!"

"Donna's a grown woman and she made her choice." Hyde confirmed, but it was obvious that though he made no movement, inside he was full of raging anger and grief, all emotions swirling inside him. And Kelso raked the coals of his hate, spurring on, "Why are you on this guy's side? Look what he's done to us? Look what he's doing to us! He's turned us against each other!"

Eric shouted, "Kelso, **you're** turning us against each other!"

"Doesn't make what I said any less true!" Kelso shouted.

Fez noticed how uncomfortable Kitty was, and said softly, "Guys, maybe we should lower our voices-"

"I AINT LOWERING ANYTHING!" Kelso bellowed, getting in Eric's face, "Admit it! You took Donna, and now you want Jackie!"

Eric turned his face, "I'm not saying-"

But Kelso got in his face yet again, "Just say it! It's the truth! You took Donna, got bored, and now you want Jackie!"

Eric turned his head to the right, taking a step back, "No. It's not the truth."

"Eric!" Kelso laughed, shoved his face right in Eric's again, "Get off your high horse! We all know you're a liar! Now just admit you're a goddamn traitor and that you took Donna, got bored with her, and now want Jackie!"

Eric quit turning his head and looked Kelso dead in the eye, "No. I'm not saying that."

Fez harshly whispered, "Kelso, I know you are hurting but _please_! For the love of God-" The foreigner's eyes darted to a very stressed looking Kitty. Hyde caught it to, and though he was upset with Eric, he buried it for Kitty's sake, and walked over to Kelso, grabbing his arm, "Let it go."

Kelso yanked his arm out of Hyde's grasp, his face literally an inch from Eric's as he touted, "You're a liar. And a traitor. Admit it. Admit it! You took Donna,"

Hyde grabbed Kelso's arm this time, saying through a clenched jaw, "Kelso, I'm not messin' around. Quit it."

But Kelso continued, his face right into Eric's, even though Eric took another step back, "C'mon Eric, you took 'er, got bored, and now you-"

Eric shook his head, his heart pounding.

Hyde seethed, trying to yank Kelso's arm back, "Kelso, man, I'm warning you-"

Kelso continued, "YOU-"

Hyde tried to pull him back,

"WANT-"

Kelso then lunged at Eric, grabbing him by the scruff of his collar, "-JACKIE!"

And that's when Eric lost it. He pushed Kelso back, and fumed, "YES! **Yes** , I want Jackie!"

"Because you got bored with Donna!" Kelso pressured. But Eric shook his head, "I just didn't love Donna the way I thought I did-"

Kelso shook his head, disgusted. He let Hyde pull him away as he said loudly, "Man, you just won't quit! You actually _believe_ what you're saying!" As Hyde led him away, Kelso snapped and pushed Hyde away, shaking his head, "And you! For all you're bravado and tough talk, yer just a 'yes' man! All blind and deaf! Can't even think fer yourself!"

Hyde gave Kelso a certain dangerous look, "You're the one who can't think for yourself. Now go cool off, hot head."

Kelso nodded, "Yeah! I'm gonna cool off, and then I'm NEVER coming back here! This place, where a TRAITOR lives!"

As Kelso left, Eric nodded to Hyde, "Hyde, thank you-"

Hyde instantly turned around so fast his head could've snapped, "Don't thank me. He's right. You are a traitor, and I can't stay in this house knowing you get everything you want, like some spoiled little prince." He turned to Kitty, taking off his aviators, and saying truthfully, "I'm sorry Mrs. Forman. I love you, but I can't stay under the same roof with the person that drove Donna away."

He then headed to the basement, "I'll pack my bags and leave quietly."

Finally Kitty spoke, gasping, "Oh Steven, NO! We can sit down, we can talk about this-"

"There's nothing to talk about. I'm out."

They disappeared in the basement, leaving the driveway to Fez and Eric alone.

Eric opened his mouth, but Fez shook his head, "Do not explain to me Eric. I understand. I do not like the turn of events, but I understand."

"So you're on my side?!" Eric nodded desperately.

Fez stared at him for a sad moment before his shoulders deflated and he admitted, "No. I cannot choose sides with my friends. I am sorry."

As Fez left to the basement, leaving Eric alone with his thoughts:

 _Sometimes I look around, around me, and wonder if everyone's gone insane. And then I think, 'wait, maybe it's always been like this and maybe now I'm just noticing it', and then I think, 'No. No, maybe I made it this way…. I helped fuck it up'._

"All for one and one for all; united we stand, divided we fall."

\- Alexander Dumas, _The Three Musketeers_


	14. Chapter 14

**_I was originally writing a chapter called "Aftermath" that was too long, so I cut it into 3 parts. This, it the first part._**

* * *

 **14- Aftermath Part I: Mother & Son, and Ex-Lovers **

The Forman Kitchen:

"Eric, what is going on?! I wake up one day, things are a bit strange but for the most part normal, I go through the day, and all you kids are yelling at one another- and what is this with you and Jackie?! Haven't you had enough with Donna?! I mean, Donna's a handsome young woman, she's a million feet tall with big knockers-"

"MOM!" Eric yelped, but Kitty persisted, "It's alright, I know what breasts are, Eric! I'm a woman, a mother and a nurse! And I am well aware what men ogle at when they look at a woman's chest, and it is not her Presbyterian cross necklace!"

"Yeah, but just," Eric glanced around the kitchen before whispering, "Please don't refer to Donna's chest as 'knockers'."

"And Steven moving out! He wouldn't even let me speak to him! He just gathered all his belongings in this sad, grey duffle-bag and took off! Where could he go! We rescued him from a condemned home!"

Guilty, Eric looked at his hands.

Kitty shook her head, "And I've known Michael Kelso since he was seven years old, running around in his underpants because he forgot to wear his little jeans! And I have never seen him act the way he did with you today!"

"I know, mom." Eric sighed, shutting his eyes.

"And Jackie!" Kitty gasped, much to Eric's squeamish disappointment, "She punched you! When I saw that, all I could think was, 'Is this was the same Jackie Burkhart who refused to touch eggs because they came from chicken butts?!'"

Eric opened his eyes, a questioning look over his face, "That's a weird thing to think."

Kitty shook her head, "Honey, all these bad feelings floating around, it isn't good!"

"I **know** , mom." Eric said through gritted teeth. When he looked up, he saw his mom staring at him, her expression of worry hitting him in the heart. He said in a much more softer tone, "I'm sorry mom. It's just… there's been a lot happening right now."

Kitty nodded, trying to understand, "With Donna?"

Eric shook his head, "No." But after thinking about it, he nodded, "Um, yeah." Only to then shake his head again and slump his shoulders, "I don't know… Yes, I guess her and everyone else."

Kitty leaned in, gently taking her son's hand, "Her and everyone else… or you?"

Eric looked up at her, his eyes with a look of confusion, "Me?"

Kitty nodded, "Yes dear, you. It seems to me that if what anything any of them said out in that driveway is true, you changed one of your core beliefs, and it sent shock waves all through your little group."

Eric leaned in, sitting up, "What're you talking about?"

Kitty took a moment to gather her thoughts before gently continuing, "I know you feel you have a challenging home life, what with me mothering you and your father's unrealistic demands of you, and how badly your sister can treat you at times-"

"Mom, she locked me in the dryer with a beehive." Eric responded flatly. Kitty nodded, patting her son's hand, "I know, and I reprimanded her! As I recall, I made sure she didn't go to any parties for two whole months. I stripped her of her tapes and TV privileges, she was absolutely depressed. But back to what I was saying, you feel you have a tough life-"

Eric nodded, "I do! Did you not see the mob that was once my friends go after me?"

Kitty took in a calming breath before continuing, "Sweetie, let me finish."

He slowly moved his jaw up, and shut his mouth. Kitty nodded, "Alright, now back to what I'm _trying_ to get you to understand. You feel you have a tough life, and to you, you do. We don't have too much money, we're not rich. We barely hang onto this house without it being foreclosed on us. We haven't always given you the best birthday or Christmas gifts, and I know sometimes we embarrass the heck out of each other… but we do love one another dearly. We try to be there at those special moments-"

Eric told her bluntly, "Really? Were the births of me and Laurie 'special moments' because dad went out for a sub while you were in labor."

Kitty rolled her eyes, "Oh that! Your father was just nervous! Back in the war years, he resigned himself into thinking he was going to die out there, defending our freedoms. When he got nervous, he just turned right into anger and shot up as many North Koreans as he could before St. Peter reached out from the great beyond to pluck his soul! When he realized he would live, and he couldn't take out his rage by shooting something, he went crazy eating! He gained 50 pounds, I know you don't remember, but your father was getting a bit chubby. I told him he needed to find a better outlet. He then tried exercising and hunting, but he did sustain a bad back injury in the war that limited his exercising abilities and even though he enjoyed hunting, sometimes it gave him war flashbacks. That's why I didn't really want him taking you out there to 'make you a man', I was… well, I was afraid something might happen. An accident, between the two of you. And I wanted to keep you safe, both of you."

Eric's eyebrows rose a little high, "Mom, you never told me-"

"Of course not, Sweetie. A boy should look up to and admire his father, not be afraid of him." Kitty smiled at him a motherly sort of smile before going on, "And your father is a good man. A very grumpy man, and sometimes he can be a downright pain in the place the sun doesn't shine, but he is a good one. I know war had a bad effect on him, and made him cynical and angry most of the time, but if you pay close attention, the real Red Forman shines through here or there. And as for your births, he was so nervous he went straight to a sandwich shop and ate four sandwiches straight when Laurie was born. When he came back and learned there were complications, he was afraid- I know it even though he valiantly denies it- and went back to that sandwich place for two more subs. I suppose he couldn't stand waiting in that waiting room, I mean, you know how much your father hates hospitals. They make him anxious. And as for your birth, there were less complications, so he only ate three subs, but at least that time he was good enough to being me back some soup. You know how I love Clam Chowder, and he even brought me animal crackers."

"So he ate… because he was nervous?"

"Yes. Nervous and afraid."

"Ha!" Eric laughed, "This is how I know your story is phony! Dad isn't afraid of anything!"

Kitty sadly smiled at her son, "Eric, he's afraid of a lot of things, just not boogeymen or monsters. He's afraid of losing the house and not feeding us. I know I work, and though I enjoy what I do, we grew up in a time when women didn't work. And sometimes it makes him feel less of a man that I do. And I think it has less to do with the fact that I _want_ to work, and more to do with the fact that we desperately need my income to support this household. If we both had jobs, but his was enough to support all of us, I think he would be a happier man. And he's afraid of something happening to you or your sister. He doesn't want Laurie being taken advantage of, or for something to happen to you. I know a month after you were born I confronted him about his not sleeping after you were born. And yes, you cried here and there, but you were much easier to handle than Laurie. She screamed her head off for everything! And then he confided in me that he didn't want a son because he was afraid we would enter into World War III and you'd get drafted. Apparently he was having nightmares about that. I assured him that was a long time into the future, and we moved on with our lives."

"… I didn't know that."

Kitty sadly smirked, "There's a lot you don't know, Eric."

As Eric looked down at his and his mother's hands, hers resting on top of his, she continued, "I know your father isn't the best at expressing his feelings," She then chuckled, "He was so worried I'd turn him down when he proposed, he sweated straight through his uniform. And then we went to a movie theatre where the projector stopped playing and we had dinner at this little quant restaurant I simply adored that accidently got my order wrong. Your father, in all his machismo, got so upset he shouted at our waiter to correct my order, and then there was this big scene and we were thrown out indefinitely. I sensed your father was getting more and more anxious as the evening wore on, especially when I suggest that he just take me home-"

"You suggested?"

"Well, I was mighty angry that he got us thrown out of that restaurant, it was my favorite and I suppose my suggestion could have been… very vocal."

"You yelled at him."

Kitty shrugged, "I was a teenager, besides the point that I'm trying to get to-"

"What happened?" Eric pressed on.

The corners of Kitty's mouth twitched as she said, "Well, okay, I may have yelled at him and I had half a mind to dump him, I mean he was being weird all night long. Of course, I didn't know then that he was planning on proposing. And he took me to this beautiful spot that overlooked the town, but people went there to neck and I thought, 'Oh, I cannot believe this boy! Takes me to a movie that won't play, gets me thrown out of a restaurant in utter humiliation, and now takes me to Overlook Point to neck? He must be out of his mind!' And since he was sweating so much, he was starting to smell like armpit, something that even to this day I try and fail to forget. And we had another fight, mainly because I couldn't believe his audacity. I ordered him to take me home and finally your father agreed, angrily, and of course- the car wouldn't start. He began cursing a string of curses that you'd only hear in a Navy Bar, and he nearly scared me half to death when he took out all his frustration on the car! He hit the steering so many times his palm turned red and he got out of the car and kicked the hubcap and punched in- and dented- the hood. He was positively deranged, and I just had about enough of his tantrum, so I got out of the car and told him adamantly that he was a lunatic and I was leaving him. And he stopped beating up the car and stared at me, his eyes in this haze, his lower lip quivered, he reminded me of a little boy who lost his mother at the grocery store. His broad shoulders slumped and he looked down at his shoes, nodding grimly, 'Alright. I'm sorry, Kitty. I'll walk you home.' And the walk home was unbearable. It was chilly, and dark, and we walked miles back to my house in this tension filled silence. By the time we got there, my feet were killing me- I was in heels after all, and I was more than ready to take a nice, clean shower and forget about my day. Only there was a problem: During your father's fight with the car, I accidently dropped my purse in surprise at what he was doing, and the key to my house apparently had fallen out."

"The key was still in the car?"

Kitty nodded, "Yes. And boy was I furious- at Red Forman. I shouted at him so loudly neighbors turned on their porchlights to see the commotion. And then he yelled back at me, and thunder started to sound. Finally he threw up his arms, 'Oh hell!' and began walking back to the car at Overlook Point. He was gone for maybe, ten, fifteen minutes before I checked the pockets in my dress and realized the key was in them. I felt so bad, and I felt even worse when it started to rain. I let myself in, and waited by the window, for about an hour, when a truck pulled up and your father hopped out, soaking wet with a dingy newspaper over his head that wasn't doing a darn thing besides getting his head full of running ink. The truck soon pulled out of my driveway, and I saw your father looking around the house for me, calling my name. I opened the door, and let him in. He was grateful, and shivering, and I placed him by the fire. He was in the middle of apologizing to me about not finding the key and having to hitchhike back into town with chattering teeth when he suddenly stopped. He then realized we were inside the house, and he got real sour, shouting up a storm! He got even worse after I told him I found the key in my dress pocket. I told him it was a perfectly understandable mistake, but since he didn't have anything of importance in his pockets, he wouldn't know. He got even madder at this, his face literally turning a shade of red, as he pulled out a small black box. I asked him what that was supposed to be, and he opened it, revealing a beautiful gold engagement ring. He then said, his voice hollow and angry, 'I was gonna marry you tonight, but since we're no longer together, it all seems very foolish now.' And oh, let me tell you, my heart sunk to the pit of my stomach! We sat in silence for a few moments before he shrugged, placing the little black box on the wooden floorboards and gently pushing it towards me, 'Here. You can have it. You don't have to marry me. Just… look at it or something.' And I told him, shaking my head and just feeling terrible, 'Oh no Red Forman, I can't take this! This is an engagement ring! It's a promise to be married, and after everything that's happened today-' But he cut me off with a simple, 'Kitty, I'm going to war. I don't expect you to wait for me until I come back… I expect you to get married to one of these softies who doesn't know the meaning of war, and settle down somewhere, with a couple kids, a girl and boy probably… while I'll be six feet under.' And I said, 'Red, don't talk like that.' And he said, 'It's a fact of life, Kitty. Just… hold on to it, and remember me here and there. That's all.' And that was it. He did go off to war a couple days later, and I had mixed feelings about that ring. On the one hand, I adored Red Forman and it made me feel very special that I was chosen by him to be his wife! And, on the other hand, I had this knot in my stomach over how we ended things and I was never quite sure if he was dead or alive."

Kitty paused for a minute, letting the past sink in before continuing, "He stopped writing me, and I only found out though his brother, Jerry. And I went out with other boys, a distraction, but none could hold a candle to your father. And when he came back, we were a bit awkward around one another, and then we regressed to fighting and bickering over whose fault it was we weren't together anymore. And then he made the smart-mouth comment that I probably pawned the ring for money, and I took out my necklace from under my collar and I flashed his engagement ring that was on it, and I told him straight out that I had worn it every single day since he gave it to me. I suppose he thought I sold it since it wasn't on my finger, and to see the look of shock and guilt spread over his rugged features was extremely pleasurable. And it took a long, hard, 4 months before we began dating again, and the next time he proposed to me, he simply held the ring that was tied around my neck and asked me delicately, 'Care to make this official?' Well," Kitty smiled, "I cared to."

Eric didn't say anything, but he did note how long it took for his parents to finally get together. He supposed romance didn't start overnight.

"But Eric, what I was trying to tell you before, it's that you're lucky. You have a family. You have a home. Not all your friends have that, and you were nice enough to open your home to them."

"They have homes." Eric said softly, feeling like a six year old all over again.

Kitty conceded, "They do, but sweetie, think about it. Fez's family is, well, frankly none of us know exactly _where_ it's at, but it's far-far away. And he is in an exchange home, with people that really don't know him. I'm sure he feels lonely over there. And I bet Michael does as well. He's one of seven or eight kids, all running around, and his mother didn't give him that much attention, that's probably why he does crazy and crazier things. And you know, Steven's situation needs no assessment. How his father left and then his mother," Kitty shook her head, obviously distraught, "He has no place to go, Eric. Literally. As you can see, his leaving us has me particularly worried. So, in the grand scheme of things, you are blessed. And these very friends who counted on you, loved you, trusted you, were letdown by something they never thought you would, could ever do to them. Eric, my beautiful baby boy, you betrayed their trust."

"… I-I…only Kelso…" Eric tried weakly.

"That was enough." Kitty sighed, "And it sent ripples everywhere. And I suspect it wasn't just that you fell for 'his girl' as much as you carrying on with her behind everyone's backs."

"We didn't do much!" Eric contested. Kitty eyed him, "Honey, if you were still with Donna and she kissed another boy only a few times, how would you feel?"

"Donna wouldn't cheat on me." Eric blurted before he caught himself. With his eyes widening a bit, he bit his lip, "I cheated on Donna."

"And by doing so, all the respect your friends had for you went down the drain."

"How do I fix it?"

At that Kitty shrugged her shoulders, "I really don't know. I'm not sure if any of you all can be as close as you once were, but at least all of you could speak to one another."

Eric let out a deep breath, "Mom, I really don't think any of them want to talk to me."

Kitty patted his hand, "Then you better hope they are in the mood to listen to you, so I suggest you talk to them and you choose some very moving words."

()()

The Sidewalk on Franklin Street:

Jackie was on her way to her mansion, doing her best not to be upset, but she knew it was futile. She was, and very much so, pissed off. However, she kept marching onward. She was just approaching the HUB when she heard someone call out after her, "HEY!"

She turned around, instinctively dabbing the corner of her left eye to keep a tear unshed, when she saw her boyfriend, or EX boyfriend she supposed was now the case. She quickly turned back around and began walking faster. Behind her, Kelso jogged to reach her, and did, tugging her arm back and saying in a very serious tone, "I want you to know that you hurt me-"

"Good." She spat, "And I want you to know that _you_ hurt _me_! The lying, the sneaking around with other women- LAURIE, Michael?!" Kelso just stood rooted in is spot, blinking, "You-You knew?!"

"Of course I knew!" She spat, "EVERYONE KNOWS! I just denied it to myself because I didn't want it to be true!"

Kelso's mouth fell, as if he himself was stunned.

Jackie shook her head, her nostrils flaring, "I know about ALL of them, Michael! Pam Macey, Joan Lawson, Heidi Henderson, Betty Stephens, the _others_! Laurie was just latest in a series of ongoing flings and it hurt me, but I-I dunno… I guess I just thought this stupid crap was normal and so I let it go. But the thing is, it's not normal. It's wrong. And yes, I kissed Eric, but Michael, you slept with these girls! And yes, what I did was wrong, and what you did was wrong, and two wrongs don't make a right and for that I am sorry, but I am NOT sorry for breaking up with you!"

"Wait- we're officially broken up?" He spoke, his voice wanting to sound tough but falling into confusion. She nodded, shaking her head as if all this was unbelievable, "Yes, Michael. I don't understand how we could **not** be."

"So…so, what do we do now?" He asked slowly, his features loosening into worry.

Jackie shrugged, telling him straight out, "I don't know."

On a regular sidewalk in Point Place, Wisconsin, two ex-lovers just stared at one another in complete havoc of many emotions ranging from relief, to confusion, to guilt, and uncertainty of the future. The space between them was only four feet, but it might as well have been a mile.

Kelso opened his mouth, about to charge Jackie in that what she did was far worse because at least none of those girls were her friend the way Eric was his. But Jackie just shook her head, finally making her mind up about Michael Kelso, "I know, Michael. And I don't want to hear it."

She turned around, and walked off, leaving Michael Kelso by himself on the sidewalk, his hands as open as his mouth.


	15. Chapter 15

_This chapter is kinda on the dark side. And there are some cursing moments- giving you all a heads up._

* * *

 **15- Aftermath Part II: Best Friends, and Mother & Daughter**

"Hyde, are we at a haunted house?"

"Fez, this is where I lived before the Forman's took me in. Man, don't you remember?"

"Oh," Fez nodded, looking around the abandoned home, "It looks different with cobwebs, no lights or working water or happiness and… is that blood smeared on that wall?"

Hyde glanced over nonchalantly, "Maybe."

Fez shook his head, stepping over to Hyde and jumping a little when the floorboard creaked, "Aye! Hyde, you cannot live here! Unless you were a raccoon, or a psychopath, I don't think anyone could!"

Hyde shook his head, his pride obviously leading the way, "I can. I don't need anybody. I can live by myself on my own terms- forever if I have to."

At that moment, a rat ran passed Fez and he jumped, "OHMYGOD!" He backed into Hyde who just rolled his eyes, "Fez, it's just a rat!"

"Just a rat?!" Fez yelped, "In my country, they started the black plague! They are death on four tiny legs!"

Hyde groaned as Fez shook his head, "Oh no, my friend, you cannot stay here! If you do, you will wake with a black tongue and dead!"

"Fez, I can't wake up if I'm already dead." Hyde deadpanned.

"You get the point!" Fez shouted, "Now Hyde, just go back home where you belong! With Mrs. Forman and her wonderful motherly love, and Red threatening to put his foot in your ass, and with your best friend, Eric!"

"He's not a friend." Hyde gruffly stated.

"Yes he is! He does many, many stupid things, but we all do!" Fez stated, waving his hands in exaggeration for extra emphasis, "Remember the time we hosted a party in an empty pool?! Or the time we went skinny-dipping and all our clothes got stolen?! Or the time we were all going to streak but we saw dogs and chickened out, and Eric still did it and got away?! Hyde, take off the glasses and open your eyes! We are all stupid! It is what makes us- _Us_! So Eric went after Donna, he thought he loved her! He didn't know that was stupid! Jackie fell for Kelso, that was stupid too! You loved Donna and took FOREVER to tell her! That is on you, not Eric, and that was stupid! Now that we all have equal shares of stupidity to go around, let's not let our friendships die because of it, because Hyde" Fez looked his friend in the eye, "That would be the stupidest thing we could ever do."

Hyde stared at him before saying, "All I got from that rant is that we're all stupid."

"Yes!" Fez nodded, "We should not be without adult supervision; we're like children, but older and sexier!"

Hyde smirked at Fez, as the foreign exchange student always had a way to make him laugh. He then nodded, "And I guess we've all got a helping of blame to go around for this mess."

"Yes, my friend." Fez nodded.

Hyde sucked in a breath, and held it for five seconds before slowly letting it go. Finally, with his head nodding, he said, "I get what you're saying, Fez. I do… but I still am angry at Eric."

"Eric or you, Hyde?" Fez asked softly.

Hyde looked at him before shrugging, "I dunno. It all kinda blurs after a while."

After a minute of silence, Fez told him, "Just promise me you won't stay here. This place is a murder scene without the victims."

As Fez wrinkled his face at the surrounding area, Hyde just chuckled, "Alright. I mean, the other day I met this guy and he owns the Foto-Hut by the mall. I'll ask to stay with him. I mean, he seems cool."

Fez was suspicious, "How can you be sure if you barely know him? He could be a serial killer."

"He's my supplier for the stash." Hyde commented, to which instantly Fez's face lit up, "Oh! Now with this new information, he can't be all too bad."

As Hyde resituated his duffle-bag around his shoulder and he and Fez made their way out the front door, Hyde commented, "His name's Leo. He's like this old hippie, and to be honest man, I'd rather stay with him than this place. Just reminds me of Edna."

As they went down the steps, Fez turned to him, "That was your mom, no? Was she nice?"

Hyde sarcastically snickered, "Oh yeah, a peach."

As they crossed the lawn, Fez warmly remembered, "I remember that on career day, you took me to go see your mom, as she was the lunch lady, and she was so nice to me! She wasn't mad at all when I accidently mixed up the chili and trash buckets."

Hyde chuckled at the memory, "Yeah…" He then patted Fez's back, "Remember when that cheerleading snob Julie Mankowitz found a cigarette butt in her chili soup, she got so disgusted and hurled right in Coach Ferguson's new football warmups?"

Both Fez and Hyde chuckled, and then Fez added, "And when we told the gang in the basement, everyone laughed! Even Jackie, and Julie was supposed to be her cheerleading friend!"

"Jackie hates her." Hyde commented, still smiling, "But man, like a year later when Forman got caught with Donna's menthols and got punished in school, freakin' Julie was giving him crap in Chem class and Forman, man, Forman-" the memory was causing Hyde's chuckles to turn into giggles, infecting Fez with bursts of giggles, "Stop it, and tell me!" Hyde shook his head, his smile widening as he as chuckled, "Forman said all loudly, 'I guess you're mad 'cause I'm smoking your lunch' and Julie got all upset and just got up and left the class, man! Mrs. Johnson was shouting at her to come back," Hyde made his voice high pitched and shrill, pretending to be Mrs. Johnson, " _THIS INSTANT_!" before dropping his voice back to normal, "And then Forman shouted out, 'Careful not to run into Coach! We all know what happened last time!' And then he looked at me and you know how dorky Forman can be, pointing at himself all like, _'_ _the kid's got connections'_ and I was trying not to laugh and I just shook my head, and then we-we high-fived."

Both burst out laughing, as Fez agrees, "Yes, Julie is mean. She pretended she liked me only to lure me in the boy's locker room where I got beaten up."

Hyde sobered up slightly, nodding, "Yeah man, me, Forman and Donna heard about that and so we asked Jackie to point out her locker, and Jackie didn't want to, but after we told her how the football team got you, she told us. We drew dicks and taped them all over Julie's locker, and man, she was pissed!"

Fez remembered the incident well. He smiled, "That was you guys?! I thought it was karma that got her!"

"Karma in the form of your friends man." Hyde chuckled.

Fez smiled, "I am so lucky to have you guys!"

Hyde nodded, "Yeah, look, tomorrow you could ask Forman and Donna how they-" Hyde stopped dead in his sentence. There was no asking Forman or Donna. Donna was gone, and Eric, well, Hyde was adamant he wasn't a friend anymore.

Fez caught the saddened look over Hyde's once jovial face and was about to ask Hyde what was wrong when he remembered what was wrong.

They were quiet for a moment, until Hyde shrugged, "Give me the keys to your foster parent's car. I'll drive to the Foto-Hut."

()()()

As soon as Jackie reached her home, she slammed the door so hard the walls shook and two family photographs instantly fell to the floor, their picture frames and glass breaking. Jackie acknowledged this with a roll of her eyes and an aggravated groan.

She barely made it into the foyer when her mother, in a light lavender dress, matching heels, dark sunglasses and a lavender sun hat with a large rim that nearly covered her face, stepped into the room, wheeling a large purple case with her right hand and a carrying several purple bags on her left arm.

"Jackie!" Pam exclaimed.

"Mom?" Jackie said, shocked.

Pam merely smiled happily, "You're home early! Good! Saves me the trouble of leaving you a note!"

"Where are you going?!" Jackie instantly demanded.

At this, Pam straightened up and tilted her chin up and pronounced like an over-dramatic actress, "Jackie, darling, I have been denying myself something for far too long and I can't do it anymore!"

Jackie's eyebrows furrowed, lost, "What?"

"You heard me!" Pam flamboyantly shouted.

Jackie rolled her eyes, groaning, "Mom, I don't have time for this nonsense! Just, just-" Jackie gestured over to the east room where one of their many bars was located, "Go drink a martini or something!"

"I am leaving with a lover." Pam told her, her tone somewhat regretful.

Jackie blinked, "A…lover?"

"Yes."

"….Daddy?" Jackie squeaked. She didn't know why she said that. She knew her parents barely tolerated each other. If anything, her mother would run _away_ from him, not _with_ him. But still, deep down, a child always wants to see his or her parents together, and maybe that was what made her say that. Maybe it was that tiny bit of hope in her heart that her mother and father would get back together (they never officially divorced but had been separated for years), come home and maybe they could be a real family.

But instantly that hope was crushed when Pam laughed, "Oh heavens no, darling! You're father, God bless him, is an absolute boar!"

"Then who!?" Jackie shouted, her anger snapping when she felt her mother was laughing at her.

Pam took a step back, shaking her head, "Jackie, calm yourself! You are a Burkhart, conduct yourself as such! I mean, such angry shouting is so unladylike!"

Jackie shook her head, something inside her wriggling and screaming to get out and lash out. With tears threatening to fall, she asked her mother as civil as she could, "How could you leave?" _…_ _me_ , her inner voice whispered, the voice of a scared and lonely child.

Pam's shoulder slumped, and with that, she placed her bags on the marble floor and walked over to her daughter, "I'm sorry."

"For leaving?!" She suddenly snapped, "Well it's easy to fix that! Just don't leave!"

"For leaving," Pam conceded, "For being a terrible mother. For giving you a terrible father. For a lot of things… "

Jackie's voice softened, "Mom, I don't have my friends, I don't have my boyfriend, and I bet they all hate me! A girl went to California on the count of me! Mom, I need you now more than ever, please, _please_ don't go!"

Pam shook her head, "Oh Jackie, that's just normal teenage aches. You'll get through it." Jackie shook her head, slowly, and then faster and faster until she shouted, " **DON'T!** Don't…" She searched for the right word, " _undermine_ my feelings!"

"You'll be fine. You're a strong girl-"

"Because I had to be!" She shouted in fury, the tears spilling this time in anger, "You and dad were always drinking and fucking around! I had NO ONE!"

Her words had some effect on Pam. She flinched, as if physically hit, and even took a step back. Running her teeth along her bottom lip, Pam said in a defensive tone, "I wasn't cut out to be a mother, Jackie."

"THEN WHY DID YOU HAVE ME?!"

Pam looked at her, right in the eye, and slowly took off her sunglasses to reveal regretful eyes, "Because I was selfish. I wanted money. And I knew that if I had the child of a billionaire, I'd get it."

"What're you talking about?! If you were already married to daddy then you were already set to inherit his money if you just divorced! You didn't need a kid!" Jackie countered, her voice loud and very upset.

Pam offered a sad smile, and then finally she dropped her long held secret, "Jackie, I am not the first Mrs. Jack Burkhart."

At this, Jackie threw up her hands, "Yes you are! What the hell are you talking about?! You were married to daddy since February 14th, 1950!"

"That's the date of your father's first marriage, to a woman named Francesca Deanna." Pam told her, almost apologetically.

"Who the hell is that?" Jackie demanded, not quite believing her mother's story.

"She is the woman who helped your father build his empire."

"…." Jackie didn't know what to think. She blinked, shaking her head, "What? I don't… get… what? No! You were married to dad on that date! You were 19, and 15 years younger than daddy but-"

"I was born and raised in some random little place in middle America that you wouldn't care about."

"No, you were raised in France with the best teachers-" Jackie started, shaking her head, confused, but Pam cut her off, "I moved to New York to be an artist. I couldn't make it, and I refused to go home, a failure like everyone told me I was. So I stayed, and to support myself, I turned tricks… traded my body for money." She said the last part distantly.

"No," Jackie whispered, shaking her head quietly.

"I had an old boyfriend who followed me, begged me to come back home. He was a soldier, and offered to take me away and be his wife, but I couldn't bare it, the thought of not being rich or famous was so… mundane. So, I turned him down. I thought the money, the popularity... I thought it would make me happy. But I discovered much later, it just made me empty inside."

"No," Jackie whispered louder, her head shaking a bit faster now. To Jackie, it almost sounded as if her past self was reciting an ode of regret, in her mother's form.

With a sorrowful voice, Pam continued, "I climbed up the ranks in New York, only 17 and already I was considered one of the best lays in the city. I entertained all sorts, businessmen, politicians, billionaires… your father. That's how we met, in the summer of 1960. And soon, I was his mistress and had my sights on becoming the second Mrs. Jack Burkhart. We even went to events together, when his wife couldn't attend. He introduced me as 'his favorite friend.' But as much fun as we had under the sheets and around the casinos, Jack refused to divorce Francesca. She was the brains behind his money. But I also reminded him, she was ten years his senior and barren. I told him that I could give him what she couldn't, a child. And he slapped me across the face and told me to get out. He said if he wanted any 'damn brats' he's adopt. Still, I was a determined woman and I knew how to get what I wanted. And I did. I'll spare you the details, but in the end, I made sure I was pregnant with his child. And when that soldier from back home came calling again and saw my baby bump, he was not deterred. He offered to still marry me, and raise you as his own. And again I turned him down. I had you, and I was on Jack and Francesca's doorstep, blackmailing them. Either your father married me, or I'd go public with you, knowing the Burkhart bloodline was fully on my side."

"No," Jackie said, her eyes on the ground, at a complete loss at her mother's tale.

"Francesca was upset, slapping your father across the face, shouting at him for not keeping his whores in line. She went on and on over all the shit she had to put up with from him, his 'disgusting habits' and his 'sexual kinks'. And she had had it with him. She barely took a glance at you, telling me straight out, 'You want this mess? Fine. Keep him. He's all yours, you stupid bitch.' And they did divorced. She moved out one minute, I moved in the next. To avoid rumors, we uprooted and settled here, in a nothing little town where your father hoped they'd leave us alone. And again, that soldier from my home town came back, begging me to be with him. He said he'd be a better father than Jack ever could. I knew he was right. But _we_ needed the money, Jackie! **_I_** needed the money!"

"No!" Jackie screamed, shaking her head violently as Pam screamed, "IT WAS ALL FOR THE DAMN MONEY!"

" **NOOO**!" Jackie screamed, a sob wrenching out, deep from her guts.

With a load off her chest, Pam nodded, crying, "Watching you grow up! You were oblivious to it all! And I was so guilty! And to get rid of the guilt, so I could feel nothing, I drank! And I drank! And I drank until half my bodyweight was liquor! But I can't do it anymore, Jackie! It's toxic and ugly and evil!"

"I don't believe you!" Jackie shouted at her mother, everything so much for her to take. Her whole life, was a lie. She fell to her knees, sobbing, "You were NOT some greedy whore and I was NOT some unwanted bastard! You and daddy loved each other!"

Pam couldn't take in the sight. She turned away from her daughter, her face tight and ashamed as she admitted, "We loved the money. Stocks were high. People felt lucky. The masses were suckered, and we helped suck up their money! We were rolling in dough! And we didn't give to charities, and we didn't use it to save anyone, and we didn't even use it to help good people finance their good dreams. We used it on ourselves. Our drugs, our drinks, our life. And after a while, when Kennedy was president, I thought maybe we could change… maybe there was hope. But that all ended in Dallas, it all died with him… and once again the green took over our lives." To emphasize her point, Pam took out a wad of hundred dollar bills, and dropped them on the marble ground.

"But…but all this-" Jackie mumbled pathetically, gesturing around her home.

"It's all lies. Built on the money we stole from others." Pam told her flatly, "It's all an illusion. And frankly, I just want to wake up from Oz already."

Jackie's mouth hung open oddly.

There was nothing more to say.

And then Pam spoke, "The boy from my hometown came back. He's older than me, yes, but he loves me. And now, I am finally at a place where I can love him back. I am delivering divorce papers to your father and moving into my lover's mobile home. You can come with me, or stay here."

Jackie took a moment, before asking hollowly, "Where is the mobile home?"

"Just outside Point Place, on the outskirts."

She thought about it, she really did. But that wad was calling to her. Closing her eyes, and turning her head was enough of an answer. Pam knew. Sighing a sigh of disappointment, Pam picked up the wad of hundreds and walked over to her daughter, placing it directly in front of her, "Money is nice, and it helps make this world bearable. But it's done nothing for me. Maybe you'll be different, and use it for some greater purpose." And with that, the reddish-yellow rays of the sun sprang forth from the windows of the Burkhart household, signaling the beginnings of the sunset, the sky outside stained red.

Pam placed a soft kiss on her daughter's sweaty forehead, whispering, "Goodnight, my little darling."

And with that, her eyes still shut, Jackie lowered her head, as if bowing, the money now clutched in her hands.

She heard her mother's clacking heels. She heard the luggage as it was wheeled away. She heard the door open, and then click shut. She head her mother make her way to the car port, and then heard one of their cars turn on.

And then she heard her mother drive away.

Opening her eyes, Jackie numbly rose to her feet and walked over to the bar. She caught her disheveled reflection staring back at her from behind the rows upon rows of liquor. Humorlessly, she told herself with a strained voice, "I don't have time for this nonsense. Just go drink a martini or something."

And she did.

* * *

 _I don't think I mentioned Leo before this chapter, but if I did, please let me know._


	16. Chapter 16

**16- Aftermath Part III: Forman and Friends**

The Burkhart Mansion:

Jackie was staring at her reflection in the mirror in her personal bathroom. Oh how many times had she rehearsed in her head her and Eric first getting together? And oh, how it all fell to pieces.

Out in her bedroom, she could hear her songs playing from her portable radio. It was some Peter Frampton song, and then the tune switched to something that seemed so long ago:

 _If you want it,_

 _Here it is,_

 _Come and Get It._

 _Make Your Mind up fast,_

 _If you want it,_

 _Any-time_ _I can give it,_

 _But you better hurry,_

 _'Cause it may not last._

She hung her head, groaning, "Damn."

She just walked into her room, stared at the radio as it cheerfully continued to play, reached out, and pressed the 'off' button.

From the inside of her head, she heard pounding. She snapped her eyes shut, about to fall on her bed and throw the pillow over her head and beg the world to shut up, when she realized it was coming from downstairs- the front doors to be more exact.

Her heart squeezed in her chest and her eyes snapped open.

"Mom?" She whirled around, her chest feeling light as she zoomed out her bedroom, down the hall, down the stairs and went bounding to the front door, her voice hopeful and joyful, "MOM!" She was in the middle of opening the door, breathing out, "I knew you'd come-" When her eyes rested on the person in front of her.

It wasn't Pam Burkhart.

"-back?" She finished oddly.

It was Eric Forman.

He was awkwardly standing in front of her, scratching his left foot on the back of his right leg, "Expecting someone else?"

"My mom." Jackie answered promptly, immediately trying to comb her hair with her fingers, trying to salvage the little makeup she had on as she stepped aside, trying act cool, "Please, come in."

Eric did so, already sensing something was off with Jackie. It seemed as if any little tap on the shoulder would send her to seven different directions.

He gave her a polite nod, and she closed the door, turning to him, "So."

He nodded, guilt settling in the pit of his stomach as his eyes took in the splendor of the Burkhart mansion, "So….."

"You proposed to Donna?"

"She turned me down." He offered lamely.

"Is that supposed to comfort me? Being sloppy seconds?"

He didn't expect the edge in her voice. He timidly looked down at his brown loafers, "I know I messed up."

"Royally." She retorted.

Eric looked up, noting the slight slur in her speech, but left it alone. It seemed she had been drinking, but at the same time it also felt as if she still had her wits about her.

"Eric, what are you doing here?" She finally asked, her eyes shining red and full of heartache, "Because in all honesty, I can't take any more crap today. If that's what you came here for, to tell me more bad news, do me a favor and just phone me tomorrow."

"I came here to tell you that I'm sorry. I want to make it right with you, with everyone."

"Answer me a question."

"Anything!" He stepped forward, nodding, "Ask me anything."

"I want the truth, Eric."

"Of course."

Jackie stayed quiet for some time before she asked, "Why did you ask Donna to marry you?"

Eric shrugged, but answered honestly, "I don't know. I guess, I thought it would fix the gang, it would fix all of us-"

But she reminded, "And you were the one who encouraged me to tell Michael about us."

He stayed quiet. Finally, he conceded, "I know. I wasn't thinking with Donna… it's just sometimes, I do stupid things."

"Is wanting to be with me one of those 'stupid things'?" She asked, her tone cold.

"No!" Eric said speedily, "I like you!"

Jackie nodded, absorbing the information before saying slowly, "You liked Donna too."

"I did, and I do, but not the way I like you." He said earnestly, "I…." He looked down, trying his best not to look like an idiot, "My chest feels lighter with you. I, I get so mad when I think about you with Kelso, with anybody, because, well, I want you with me."

He looked up, his eyes wide and honest, his throat so tight he gulped three times before continuing, "I can't help it. I guess, it's been there since we played in my backyard, and you were Snow White, and I was your Prince. I've never kissed a girl before, and you were so soft. It felt really nice. And then, Kelso woke up and it was over. I felt bad that he stopped it from, well, continuing. It made me feel… weird, but a good weird, like a tingly weird. Like, like something was stirring inside me. For some reason, I felt it was more appropriate if I went after Donna instead of you. I don't if it was because she lived right next door, or her parents were friends with my parents, or that she was in my grade and you weren't or if it was because you were kinda-sorta already going out with Kelso…" He let his sentence die on his lips, trying to read Jackie's unreadable expression before cautiously continuing, "I buried it deep inside, and then told myself I only cared about you because I thought of you as my sister. But, I knew deep down, that wasn't it. And I kept the feelings at bay, focusing on Donna. And it worked, because she's attractive, but, my eyes, they just kept going to you, and then this ball of, I dunno, frustration grew inside me. I was frustrated at Kelso for treating you the way he did, I was frustrated at you for taking it, I was frustrated at me for not having a backbone and going after you, and I was frustrated at biology because everyone knows girls want a type to father their kids!"

At the mention of 'kids', Jackie's eyebrows shot up and Eric didn't notice, instead he rambled on, "Take peacocks for example! The women peacocks want a showy, long-tailed, pretty bird to sire her baby birds! She doesn't want some grey, scrawny nothing of a peacock! And that's what Kelso is! He's showy and has long hair over his ears and up to his neck, and he's man-pretty! And I'm a grey, scrawny nothing of a guy! So yeah, you'd pick him over me, and I get it, and I don't blame you, but it just frustrated me! You don't think I want to be showy and have a long-tail with great big feathers?! I do! But I don't have that! I'm just me! And being me never really did anything, hell I'm surprised Donna gave me a shot! I mean, I don't know how it happened! My dad, in his prime, used to be a showy, long tailed peacock! I should've turned out that way too, but something went wrong and I didn't! "

"Eric," Jackie started slowly, "We have three problems right now. The first: I'm a tad bit buzzed, so I'm processing things at half speed. Two: you are talking at twice the speed you usually do, sooooo, I have no idea what you're rambling about. And three: why the hell are we talking about these birds? It's not even Thanksgiving!"

"You're thinking of turkeys." Eric pointed out, only for Jackie to roll her eyes, "Whatever, still doesn't explain why we are talking about them!"

"I was trying to use an analogy!" Eric tried to explain helplessly, "It's just…I don't know!"

"What do you know?!" Jackie snapped, her patience dwindled down to crumbs.

"I want to be with you!" He shouted helplessly, shaking his head, "It's just, I-I…" He looked around the room desperately, as if something would leap out and help him, but in the end, the only thing that happened was him hanging his head and admitting, "I'm such a dumbass."

After a pause, she asked him, her voice exhausted, "What are we doing here, Eric?"

Eric shrugged helplessly, "I'm trying to fix things."

She looked up, her face showing how miserable she truly was. She said in a distant, soft voice, "You can't fix everything."

"I want to." He tried, his voice earnest.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" She challenged, her anger unreasonable and suddenly flaring. Maybe the anger was there because of what she had just learned about him proposing to Donna. Or maybe it was there because her mother left her. Or maybe she was angry at herself for being in the current situation she was in, she wasn't sure, but the anger was real, and it was raw, and it was inside her, coursing through her veins.

"The Prince." He said, his voice hesitant and soft, but it seemed to have a ring of finality in it.

"This isn't a fairytale, Eric!" She shouted at him, her face heating up, her muscles twitching as tiny electrical impulses shot through her, "If you kiss me, we won't live 'happily ever after!' We'll still be stuck in the God forsaken mess!"

"I know," he started quietly, "But we need to try to make it better. No one will do it but us. And if we don't try, then this situation is truly forsaken, but not by God, but by us."

She wasn't sure if it was the amount of alcohol and liquor she consumed, but he sounded like he was making sense. And suddenly, she wanted him to make sense. She wanted to fix this, whatever "this" was. She wasn't exactly sure where to begin, but all "this" was wrong.

"What do we do?" Jackie asked slowly.

Eric chewed on his bottom lip before replying, "I need to talk to Hyde. Where do you need to starts?"

Jackie immediately said, her tone all business, "I need to talk to my mom."

 **Just Outside the Foto-Hut:**

"Sorry I'm late dudes," An older man with a beard and round glasses said over his shoulder to Hyde and Fez, as he unlocked a tiny blue hut in the middle of a parking lot. As he fumbled around with the keys, he smiled, "Hope you two weren't waiting long."

"Not at all, man." Hyde responded as the man opened the door to the Foto-Hut, a goofy grin on his face, "So this is the Foto-Hut. We do photo stuff, print stuff, shirt stuff, film stuff, and photo stuff."

"Wow!" Fez breathed, stepping inside the tiny business. Hyde walked in right after him, setting his duffle bag on the ground. Fez took a sniff, and couldn't help the smile that spread over his face, "Is that what I think it is?"

The man walked in, smiling as well, and opening up a canister of film, "I said we sold 'film stuff'."

Fez and Hyde grinned at each other, and then both looked down into the canister of film… which was filled with weed.

Fez nodded, a warm, happy glow surrounding him, "I like film stuff."

Hyde grinned, an eyebrow raised as he nodded, "We _all_ like film stuff."

The man was nodding too, smiling away, "And it's good film stuff."

"Let's smoke it now!" Fez said loudly, his eyes staring at the canister hungrily.

"Woah-woah, man!" The older man with the beard shook his head, closing the lid, "The Hyde kid is a buyer, but I don't know you! And besides, I only smoke with my friends!"

Hyde nodded like a man on a mission, "Right. Fez, this awesome man with awesomeness is Leo, and Leo, this weird foreign kid is Fez."

Leo scratched his head, "Fez?"

Hyde nodded over to Fez a sort of 'go along with me here' face as he turned back to Leo, "Leo! Old friend! You remembered Fez!"

"I did?"

Fez nodded along also, smiling from ear to ear, "Yes! That's why you said my name! You remembered me!"

"Really?" Leo asked, but smiling anyway.

Hyde exaggerated his nod, speaking slowly, "Yes! We were celebrating the end of…of…uhh" He looked over at Fez with a 'help me out' face and all his friend could offer was a confused shrug. And then Leo volunteered a confused, "Vietnam?"

Hyde and Fez looked at each other, shrugged, and both continued nodding and smiling, "Yes! The end of Vietnam!"

"Wow!" Leo proclaimed, "Hey, I got some film stuff we could smoke to celebrate!"

Hyde gently lifted Leo's hands, "Like what you have right now?"

Leo's big brown eyes lit up, "Oh wow, man! It's right here! It's all meant to be! Like destiny or something!"

"Or something." Hyde murmured, Fez punctuating, "Amen!"

5 Minutes Later:

The Circle:

Hyde coughed, nodding, "Damn. That's some good film. Caught me off guard a little bit." He sniffed, closing his eyes, inhaling the smoke around him, letting it fill his lungs as his head began to feel lighter. Slowly, he opened his eyes and shot a dazzling smile to those around him, "Feel better already! Now what was I mad about? Oh wait!" Hyde snapped his fingers, "Freakin' Forman and Jackie turned everyone against each other with their unnatural love!"

Next to him sat Leo, smiling away, "Dudes, I remember when I was young. I loved, and was loved, and then I was not loved. And then I ate Chinese food, Chinese food ate me, and then there was no more Chinese food." Leo blinked for a moment before looking directly at Fez, confused, "Wait- it wasn't Chinese food, I had Mexican food last night, man!"

Across from Leo sat Fez, who just burst out in a fit of giggles, "Chinese food cannot eat you!" And then Fez's giggles died down as his face turned suddenly serious, "But Mexican food on the other hand…" He lowered his voice, "I love the tacos." He then looked up, saying thoughtfully, "I wonder what it would feel like for a taco to eat me? Probably it would say: Yum! Fez, nom-nom-nom!" He then looked over at Hyde, smiling, "Probably request I have extra cheese, like how I do with it." He then smiled even bigger, "Can you imagine? A Fez with extra cheese?"

Hyde shook his head, taking off his aviators, "I want it dully noted, that no matter what happens, I won't… won't… forgive…." He paused, turning his head toward Fez, "Who am I not forgiving?"

Leo answered for him, his arm in a 90 degree angle, his hand balled into a fist as he chanted, "The Viet-Kong!"

Hyde looked back over at Fez, "What is that? A gorilla?"

Fez shrugged, "Maybe he's King Kong's cousin. Like, I had a cousin named 'Itt'. And when we used to walk to school together, people would say, 'look! It's Fez and Cousin Itt!' And then they would throw tomatoes at us and scream! We retreated to our spooky house on a hill, sang a classic theme song that would be known throughout time as we snapped our fingers!'" At that moment Fez chanted, "Tha-na-na-na!" He snapped his fingers twice. "Tha-na-na-na!" And he snapped his fingers twice again.

Hyde stared at him with a straight face before he burst out into a fit of giggles, "Fez, that's the Addam's Family!"

"The one with Frankenstein as the dad, and Yvonne Something or other as da mom and the little boy was Eddie the werewolf?"

"Fez, man," Hyde cracked up, "That's The Musters."

"I know they're monsters!" Fez proclaimed, "No normal person is over nine feet tall, green, and has a square for a head! That's some eerie shit right there, brother!"

Hyde laughed even louder, turning back to Leo, "Leo man, can you believe this guy?!" But when he turned his head, Leo was gone. Hyde looked around, "Uh… Leo?"

"Oh, he left." Fez told him simply.

Hyde scrunched up his face, "Left?"

Fez nodded, "Oh yes, there was a knock on the door and he got up, he seemed really happy, and then closed the door. I think I heard an engine and then he was gone!"

Hyde threw up his arms, "Why didn't you tell me this?!"

Fez leaned in, a conspiratorial whisper on his lips, "I think he had a lady friend!" And then he giggled like a school girl. Hyde couldn't believe it. He proclaimed loudly to his foreign friend, "Lady Friend? Fez man, I love Leo, but he's like a hundred years old! Who's his 'Lady Friend'? Grandma Moses?!"

"Who the hell is that?" Fez asked, completely confused, "Does she sell cookies on TV?"

"No, man," Hyde snapped, his forehead caking with sweat and his heart beginning to pound loudly, "She's an old lady who paints pictures!"

Fez smiled, his brown eyes twinkling, "Think she can paint me naked?"

Hyde began to panic, his heart thumping out of his chest, "Dude this isn't funny! Leo's been a constant in my life, man! Leo was there when my dad left! He used to be Bud's supplier! And then he was there when the Forman's took me in, and he saw me and was all, 'You're the Hyde kid, right?' And when I said I was, we shook hands, he told me I grew up, and then he said that Bud owed him fifty bucks! After I paid him, we shared a beer and then he suddenly turned to me and said, 'Wait, you're the Hyde kid, right?' And when I nodded, 'Uhh… yeah. We've had this conversation before', he then told me Bud owed him fifty bucks! That's how I learned he had a short memory!"

Fez was floored by this information, "You paid him fifty?! You still owe me twenty from when I beat you at foosball!"

The curly haired teen rolled his eyes before he shot to his feet, his heart drumming away faster and faster, "Fez, maybe Leo's been kidnapped! We have to save him!"

"Save him from what? Getting laid?" Fez proclaimed, getting to his own feet as he watched his friend and mentor begin checking the cameras to see if they 'saw' anything. After a minute of this, Fez slowly walked over to his friend, "Hyde, I think maybe you may have smoked a little too much. You're getting paranoid. You know you get like that when you get *too* high."

Hyde shook his head, mumbling to himself, "Leo's been kidnapped by Grandma Moses!" He then roughly grabbed Fez by the soldiers, "We must save him!"

Fez's brow furrowed in concern, "Hyde, you're scaring me now. Maybe I should just take you home to the Forman's." He then added sadly, "Even though I probably drive like Grandma Moses." He told his friend honestly, "Sometimes Hyde, I want so much to be able to drive faster than 20 miles per hour! One day, I want to drive at least 25!"

But Hyde just kept touching the counter, mumbling, "We need to save him… I need to save him… I need to save me… we need to save me… we need to save us…"

At that moment, the door opened and Hyde almost ran up to it, flinging it open in joy, "Leo man! You're back! I knew you would be-!" But his words stopped dead on his lips. For Leo wasn't standing there, it was Eric.

And beside him, was Jackie.

Both of them seemed shocked.

Eric's eyebrows shot up in surprise, "Hyde?"

Hyde blinked, unsure if he was hallucinating in his high state, "Forman?" He then looked over at Jackie, "Jackie?"

Jackie nodded, trying to seem diplomatic though it was obvious she was very uncomfortable, "Steven." Was that a slight slur he detected? At that moment, the door opened wider, and Fez popped his head out happily, "Leo?!" When his eyes rested on Eric, his smile grew even larger, "Eric!"

If seeing Hyde surprised Eric, seeing Fez shell-shocked him. "FEZ?!"

The foreigner waved at Jackie, "Jackie!"

Jackie nodded, her face the picture of confusion, "Fez… is Michael here too?"

"Michael?" Fez repeated slowly, as if he had never heard the name before.

Eric nodded, "Yeah, Kelso!"

Fez snapped his fingers, "Ah yes! Kelso!"

Hyde looked around, "He's here too?"

Finally Jackie, in a fit of frustration, shouted, "Okay-Okay! That's enough of this rendition of 'Who's on First, What's on Second!'"

After a light pause, Fez asked Jackie seriously, "What was on second?"

"Are you kidding me?!" She snapped.

Hyde suddenly turned to Fez, saying slowly, "Don't you have a Cousin named Itt?"

Fez turned to Jackie, confused, "Was Itt on Second?"

"Are you guys high or something?!" The cheerleader demanded, and after another pause, mainly with Eric staring into their bloodshot eyes, Eric narrowed his eyes, "Wait a minute…" He then sniffed the air coming out of the Foto-Hut, "Wait just one second here!" Jackie then face palmed, "Oh my God, you are!"

Fez nodded slowly, pretending to be a detective, "So we know _Itt_ -is-on _-second_ , but _why_ -are-you- _here_?"

Eric tried to explain to Hyde, "Hyde, I wanted to talk to you-"

"How'd you know I was here?" Hyde asked, blinking a whole lot.

"Yes, how did you know?" Fez questioned, eyeing Eric suspiciously.

Eric's eyes widened as he shook his head, his voice high, "We didn't!"

"Then why are you here?" Hyde demanded as Fez nodded, agreeing, "Yes, back to my original question! See, all roads lead back to Fez, baby!"

Jackie stepped in front of Eric, "I believe I can answer that. We decided that we wanted to fix things, and Eric felt he needed to speak to you, Steven."

"Hyde." Hyde corrected.

Jackie rolled her eyes, "Whatever. Anyway, I decided I had to speak to my mom and we traveled everywhere looking for her Lincoln! We finally went to this" Jackie actually shuddered, "Mobile Home subdivision just outside of Point Place before spotting a Lincoln coming from that area and straight into Point Place, and when I checked the license plates- it was my mom's Lincoln! We followed it to this parking lot! But," here she glared at Eric, "We had to stop for gas and the Lincoln took off! We tried to follow it, but it was long gone! So, I suggested to Eric we investigate here to see why my mom would stop in such a dreary place, since this was the last place we saw it."

"Well, the guy who works here sells drugs." Hyde shrugged as Fez added, "And he was kidnapped by Grandma Moses."

Eric made a 'what the hell' face which morphed into a beautiful 'this makes no sense' face. He started slowly, "The guy who works here sells drugs and was kidnapped by Grandma Moses?"

Fez added, his tone very serious, "I want Grandma to paint me naked."

Eric ignored him and turned to Jackie, dropping his voice, "Does your mom, _y'know_ , do drugs?"

Jackie rolled her eyes, saying sarcastically, "It's the '70s, so, _y'know_ , yeah."

Hyde looked over at Eric with glazed eyes, "She's gotta point, man. Shit, even Pastor Dave lights up once in a while. You should see him at Christmas, lighting up faster than a Christmas Tree."

Eric nodded, "See then Jackie, you're mom just stopped here to buy drugs." After he said it, he mumbled, "I'm not sure if that's better…"

"Maybe she saw Grandma Moses." Fez offered, thinking he was helping.

But Jackie just wrapped her arms around her chest, not quite convinced as something wasn't quite clicking, "Yeah… sure."

And then Hyde started silently laughing, his shoulders shaking. Soon, he was giggling, and then laughing, and then he was laughing so hard, his laughter infected Fez and even Eric and Jackie had worried smirks. Finally Eric asked Hyde, "What's so funny, man?"

Hyde, who at this point was laughing so hard a tear was falling down his cheek, managed to say between laughs, "Originally Fez didn't say Grandma Moses came by! He-He said… he said…" He couldn't finish the sentence and doubled over, laughing harder.

Eric, with the silly smirk still on his face, turned to Fez, "What did you originally say?"

Fez shrugged, chuckling, "I can't remember, something about a 'Lady Friend'."

At this, Jackie's smirk fell dead, "Lady Friend?! What makes you think this was a Lady Friend?"

Fez answered honestly, "I thought I saw them kissing and embracing in a romantic fashion."

"No." Jackie breathed out as Hyde laughed even harder, saying loudly, "Man, wouldn't it be funny if Jackie's mom was the one who kidnapped Leo?!"

Eric, who had been informed of Pam's situation and her decision to leave her husband by Jackie in the car could only turn to the girl he had feelings for as her face visibly paled.

Jackie could only say one horrified whisper, "She didn't… she couldn't have… fallen in love with a hippie who works at the Foto-Hut…"

Fez was still laughing, "Love?"

And then Hyde turned to Eric, wiping his tears, "Now do you get why this is funny? What if Pam is The Lady Friend aka Grandma Moses!"


	17. Chapter 17

_**It's been awhile and things have been a bit hectic. Apologies for any typos here or there.**_

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 **Chapter 17: Letting Things Happen**

Eric had driven home his friends, Hyde and Fez who had complaints about going home with him, and Jackie who was in a sort of stunned anger before dozing off to sleep.

When they arrived at the Forman's, Eric stopping the Cruiser so suddenly it accidently jolted Jackie awake, Hyde made a big deal about not wanting to spend the night there, as he just left it. Fez on the other hand, only seemed to be putting up a fight as a front. He genuinely seemed relieved and even asked for a slice of cake when he was about to join Hyde in the basement. Eric let him have a slice, and Hyde, once again, pointed out that Fez was sleeping on the couch and he was sleeping in his old cot in his old room- even though Fez tried unsuccessfully to sleep in with Hyde in his old room, saying in a pleading voice, "We don't even have to share the bed! I will just sleep on the ground, like a cat!"

Hyde wasn't having that.

And when Hyde passed out on his old cot, his duffle bag right next to him, and fell asleep on the couch watching infomercials, Eric felt it necessary that he and Jackie had a talk.

But it was very late, and both had school the following day (technically in a few hours). Eric hadn't really asked his parent's permission for his friends to stay over, but felt that if his mother was awake, she would let him bring them home.

So now, alone in his bedroom, the door only a creak open as Eric didn't want to completely shut it, Jackie forced her eyes to stay awake, mumbling, "I can't believe my mother being with an old hippie is a possibility."

Eric nervously shoved his hands in his corduroy's, shrugging, "It can't be that bad if she wants him, maybe even," he actually gulped, " _Loves_ him…"

Jackie was quiet for a moment, and Eric just stared at her. She looked so small and fragile there in his bed, so defeated and deflated. It almost seemed as if his Spiderman bedsheets would swallow her up. And then she spoke, her voice small, so un-Jackie-like, "I thought I was a princess."

Eric raised an eyebrow, struggling to listen to her. It seemed as if just watching Jackie was drowning out his own hearing. He was memorizing each feature of her face, the roundness of her cheeks, the curves of her lips, the intensity of her eyes… she was beautiful.

Especially here, in his room. He didn't feel he had much control on the outside world, but in here, he felt he had some control. Here, he could stop bad things from hurting her. Here, he could keep her safe, and make her happy. Here, he could be a hero, just like all those heroes in his comic books.

This room was his sanctuary.

This was his Fortress of Solitude.

This was his Bat-Cave.

This was his T-65 X-Wing Fighter…. But like, y'know, an immobile room.

And watching her soft features bask in the moonlight, his eyes fell to her lips. They were moving. So he willed every ounce of his being to listen to her. And then he heard her say, "But I'm not. I guess everyone must wake up from the fairytale sometime."

"…" He felt awkward as he asked slowly, "What're you talking about?"

"I'm the daughter of a white collar criminal who doesn't want me and his favorite prostitute. What more is there to say?" She said harshly, the look on her face had a cold edge to it. It was as if she was daring him to deny it. He didn't. He knew it was true. He also felt he didn't have all the facts, but Jackie had explained things clearly enough for him in the car, before they picked up Hyde and Fez.

"I don't want you to be upset." He told her. It was the truth.

She laughed bitterly, "I'm not upset. I'm too buzzed to be upset. I'm more of uh, well, _disheartened_ of the whole ordeal."

He sat next to her on his bed, saying quietly, "It doesn't matter where we came from, it just matters that we're here."

She paused, staring at him. Her eyes revealing a sort of inner war with herself. And then she said with equal quietness, "Where is 'here', Eric?"

"…" He chewed on his lower lip before looking straight up, out his window, "You know… my father thought he was going to die in war. He had this big, romantic thing planned for my mom, but things turned awry and instead of them getting engaged- what he had planned to end the evening with, they broke up."

Jackie shot him a crooked look, "Is this supposed to cheer me up?"

Eric turned to her, a small smirk on his face, "Yes. Because you see, he gave her the ring anyway, as a way to remember him if he did die. It was like a connection, though times were rough and the future was uncertain. I want to give you something, Jackie."

Suddenly Jackie tensed and her eyes widening, "We're not having sex, Eric."

A shocked look spread over his features as he jumped back, "Not what I meant! I meant, uh, well," He began to twitch as he went to one of his drawers and began searching through it desperately, throwing over his shoulder, "I'll show you instead! Yeah, maybe it'll be easier that way!"

Jackie stayed quiet, watching him curiously.

And then he turned around, his hands behind his back as he waited for a moment of anticipation.

Now Jackie wasn't sure if it was the adorable way he was looking at her hopefully, or if it was the way his stance mirrored a child with a special surprise, but she could've sworn she was in love with him. Yes, love. Not _falling_ in love, but already in love- as if the falling had already taken place and all that was left was _being_ in love.

She couldn't help her face as a small smile broke out, "What do you have?"

Eagerly he placed his hands in front of him, and uncapped them to reveal his offering.

It wasn't a ring or any type of jewelry. It wasn't a wad of money- Thank God. It wasn't some pricy rock like gold, or rubies, or emeralds, or diamonds.

It was something that honestly took her off-guard and didn't at the same time.

It was… a miniature Luke Skywalker collectable, complete with a blue lightsaber.

Jackie raised an eyebrow, her expression unreadable, which panicked Eric as he fumbled to explain, "You see, um, I kind of fancy myself as Luke-" His face fell as he said awkwardly, "I can't believe I just said 'fancy' in describing myself," He then tried to recover, "But-but, the-the point is, Luke is a hero. Not like, the average muscular, cool, type, I mean, he's no Han, but a nerdy type who saves the day by blowing up the Death-Star! And, see, his Uncle Owen and his aunt were just recently killed, he felt his purpose was gone, but it wasn't! It was just beginning! He just had to use the force, along with Obi-Wan's coaching! So, maybe, like, though I'm no Obi-Wan, as no one can compare to a great Jedi master, but hopefully, like if you're also like Luke- lost and confused that is- I can sorta be like Obi-Wan and try to help out!"

She didn't know why, but her smile grew, "Eric, I am so confused. Isn't there a princess in Star Wars? Why can't I be her?"

"Yes!" Eric eagerly nodded, taking a step toward her, "She's the Leader of the Rebellion and has sexy hair-buns." At that, he lifted both eyebrows a couple of times for effect.

She made the comment offhand, not really expecting any reaction from Eric, "Okay, so now I know what you like in bed… a partner with sexy hair-buns." She plucked the tiny miniature out of his hands, talking of how she never could quite 'get' Star Wars when she looked up and saw Eric's pale face.

She stopped mid-sentence, "Eric? Are you okay? Are you having an allergic reaction to something? Was it something I said?"

Quickly his face tightened into a smile as he shook his head, his hand waving, "No-no, it's just, um, like, uh, hair-buns are sexy but uh…" Now his face was reddening. To go from one extreme to the other seemed almost dangerous to Jackie.

"Eric, it was a joke." She told him gently, reaching out to his hand and giving it a light squeeze.

He nodded, looking as if he was trying to gain his composure, "Yeah- funny."

Trying to change the subject, Jackie asked him, "Hey, did I tell you about the wad of money my mom left me just before she ran off with the hippie?"

Eric shrugged, his thoughts still on sexy hair-buns, "Um, yeah. Mentioned it."

Jackie, seemingly out of nowhere, pulled it out, and tossed it to him, "It's a payoff, I guess. All that money rolled up into a snowball!"

Eric's eyes widened at the sight of the cash he held, "This is the most expensive snowball I've ever seen!"

Jackie rolled her eyes, "I know. Now what am I gonna do with it?"

"Pay for food?" Eric tried lamely, dissecting it's contents of smashed hundred dollar bills.

Jackie let out a hollow laugh, "Then I could grow fat with the amount of cash left in there!"

As Jackie went on and on about how disappointed she was at most of the recent turns of events, Eric had been smoothing the wrinkles of the dollar bills and carefully folding them together. As Jackie slowly came to a close, finishing with, "Sometimes I think I'll never be happy again." Eric looked up, presenting her with a flower he made out of the dollar bills.

Jackie's eyes widened, "Ohmygod! That's gorgeous! When did you do that?!"

Eric smirked, "While you were talking."

Jackie narrowed her eyes, pretending to be upset, "Are you saying I talk too much?"

Eric shook his head, trying his best to look innocent, "I never said that, you did."

As Jackie took her time coming up with her next statement, Eric offered her the flower, "Want it?"

She gently took it from his hands, and stared at it. Each pedal was a hundred dollar bill. The stem was made of hundreds, rolled together. It looked manufactured, as money often does, but also natural, like only the beauty of nature could look like. And then she just had to ask, "How did you do this? Like, learn, I mean."

Eric shrugged, "Fez taught me. He said it was ori-gummie or origami or something like that. He said that back in his home country, the boys used to make gifts for the girls they wished to attract." Eric then started chuckling, "And Fez was real corny too. He had this thing about comparing a girl to a beautiful flower!" With extra emphasis, Eric mimicked the move Fez showed him so long ago, the tips of his fingers and thumb all touching before he pulled them away from each other, his hand now flat like a high-five.

Jackie instantly recognized the move. Fez tried it on her when they all went to the disco in Kenosha once upon a time ago.

Eric then continued, smiling, unaware of Jackie's knowing look, "He used to pass out flowers he made, saying, 'flowers for my flower.' I asked him why he didn't use real ones, but he said real ones died and he wanted his flowers to last forever."

Before Jackie could stop the words from leaving her mouth, she said them, "I really like this flower," she waved the hundred dollar bill flower gently, but then said, "but if you're gonna get me any flowers, I want them to be real. I don't want fake flowers… I need real ones."

"I can do real." He said quietly.

After a brief moment, she looked around his room, saying slowly, "It's so weird. I think the last time I was on the second floor of this house, you and Donna were still together."

He didn't know how to respond to that, so he just let it hang in the air.

Then she asked, her face slowly turning to the window, "Have you spoken to her?"

"No." He swallowed and then asked, "Have you?"

"…no." She let out a humorless chuckle, "I don't think she'd want to speak to me."

"I don't think Kelso wants to speak to me either." Eric conceded miserably, "And we were friends."

"I'm sorry."

"About what?"

"You, losing your friendship to Michael, over me."

"Don't. Please don't be sorry over that-" He started, and then she let out what sounded like a sob, "And I'm sorry about you losing Donna. I know how much you cared for her, even when we were kids-"

"Please Jackie, no, stop-" He begged, his heart aching over the sight of her sniffling a sob as a tear fell down her face as she continued, "And losing Steven. He was like your brother. And Fez, he is the funniest, craziest, guy in town!"

He wrapped his arms around her, sitting next to her, letting his arms envelope her small frame as she choked out, "I am so sorry I am such a fuck up! I'm sorry my dad's a crook! I'm sorry my mom specialized in the oldest occupation! I'm sorry I wasn't a real princess!" She then held up the tiny Luke Skywalker miniature, "I'm sorry I don't quite understand this gift!"

At that, Eric let out half a chuckle, and she couldn't help but do the same. Why was it so easy to smile when he smiled?

He barely glanced at the toy, "It's alright. You don't have to understand it, just keep it."

Without hesitation she nodded, "I will."

He then placed the flower of hundred dollar bills, something that had been forgotten and left beside her on the bed, and gently placed it in her hair, offering her a genuine smile, "And to me you are a real princess. Worth a million bucks… or whatever your mom gave you in that wad." He added the last part, his eyes glancing at the flower that was now held by her ear, a smile on his face.

They stayed silent for a moment, just watching each other, memorizing each other's faces until Eric slowly leaned into her. For a brief moment, his eyes glanced at hers, as if asking for permission, and he guessed he received it when she slowly leaned forward herself, her eyes slowly closing.

And then his closed.

And they kissed.

It was chaste, and quick, too quick. But it still happened.

To Jackie, she felt the lips of a boy she had wanted to fell for so long. And yes, they had kissed before, but right now was different. He wanted to kiss her. And she wanted to kiss him. It was like a huge weight that had been building and building and somehow they ignored it- but not really- and then stuff happened- lots of crazy, side tracking stuff- and it was driving her crazy that he was driving her crazy, and now, all of this pent up anxiety was here, holding her back and scaring her… and as she was kissing him, it released.

She felt giddy, excited, and odd sense of calmness wash over her.

And he must have felt the same thing, because his lips softened, and he let out a light moan, as if he had been waiting for this almost as long as she was.

When they pulled back, their eyes slowly opened and Eric had this happy smile on his face, as if he won the lottery, "Um… well, uh…yeah."

She smiled back too, "Um, well, uh, yeah back atcha!"

Eric then stood up, smiling like a goofball, clapping his hands together, "So, I'll be heading out. You can sleep here, and I'll sleep downstairs," He then added quickly, his hands waving around awkwardly, "Or I can sleep here, and you downstairs, if you want, or-or someone could sleep downstairs, and the other in Laurie's room! Or-or maybe-"

Jackie stood up, yawning, "Eric, you can sleep here, and I'll just go across the hall to Laurie's room."

He smiled a little, "Oh… ok."

As she walked out the door, she opened it a bit, paused, and turned to face Eric, "Eric?"

He was about to sit down at the edge of his bed before he shot back to his feet, racing over to her, "Yes?! Need help with something? Anything?"

"Thanks for Luke." She smiled, holding up the miniature, "And the flower," her eyes darted to the area where it comfortably sat on her ear, "And…" She paused, before saying in a tone that betrayed her hesitance, "The goodnight kiss."

"Anytime." He told her, something in his voice reflecting a sense of protection over her.

"I'll see you tomorr-row?" She asked.

Her voice slurred. He had almost forgotten she had been drinking earlier, but then again she had a high tolerance to alcohol, especially for someone so small. But then again, those were Burkhart genes in her, and it seemed that entire family had a high tolerance to the hooch.

"Yes, tomorrow."

 _And hopefully many more after that_ , he thought.

He kept the door to his room open, making sure she made it across the hall safely- as if she was in any real danger. It's not like they were on Apocalypse where Darkseid and his evil minions lurked, but still. He felt compelled to look after her. And when the door to Laurie's room closed, he felt he could explain the presence of his friends to his parents later.

The future was uncertain, the past was both a blessing and a curse, and the present was very unstable. But it didn't matter.

All that really matter had already happened.

They kissed. It was a real, honest to goodness kiss. The kind they had been waiting for their whole life, so they could continue it the rest of their lives.

It was a Goodnight Kiss.


	18. Chapter 18

I do not own Dean Martin's 'Aint that a kick in the head.'

* * *

CH. 18

In fairytales, the prince finds the princess and they live happily ever after. He fixes everything for her, or maybe true love does. But in real life, it's different...

 **Work.**

A word that never meant fun. Nobody in the history of the universe ever said, "You know what would be fun? Working."

And whether it be working at a job, or working on oneself, or working through a fight, work was work. It wasn't fun. In the immortal words of Red Forman, "Work is work. You don't show up late, you don't make excuses and you don't _**not**_ work! If it wasn't work, they wouldn't call it work! They'd call it ' _Super, Wonderful, Crazy, Fun Time_!' Or, ' _Skippidy- Doo!'_ "

No offense to Mr. Forman, but she really wished 'Super, Wonderful, Crazy, Fun Time' was a thing. It sounded a-mazing!

As for Skippidy-Doo, that just sounded stupid. Like Scooby Doo's bratty, underprivileged little brother on welfare.

But she's digressing…

She remembered the first time her and Eric had a fight. They were still in High School. They slowly started dating, and knew how much their friends loathed them about that.

Fez continued going to the basement, and joked often, but Jackie could tell he was uneasy every time she touched Eric's shoulder or leaned in for a kiss. Almost like a child catching his mother being intimate with a man who wasn't his father. She made mental notes that when around Fez, she wouldn't do it as often, because Fez was, after all, the only friend that at least tried to remain normal. A part of her felt her and Eric owed him that.

And Hyde hung around as well. Sorta.

By day, he was always somewhere else away from the basement for long periods of time. By night, he would barely come back, and according to Eric, often barricaded himself in his bedroom, playing blaring Led Zeppelin music. He barely spoke to either her or Eric, and seemed to only speak to Fez. Most often than not, when either her or Eric would show up, Hyde would stop talking to Fez and nod with a forced smile, "See you later, man." And then would walk off.

Apparently Eric tried to talk to Hyde about it, on more than one occasion, but Eric told her that Hyde told him, "Look Forman, if you wanna stick your tongue down the throat of your best friend's girlfriend, that's your thing. But don't expect me to linger around, hold up a plastic smile, and take it like an idiot."

Eric apparently told him forcefully, "Jackie isn't Kelso's girlfriend anymore! She's mine!"

To which Hyde rolled his eyes, "Sure she is."

Eric hated that. Eric told her he hated that, and contemplated them breaking up for "the good of the group." But Jackie was having none of it and told him plainly, "Look Eric, if you wanna break up with me- fine. But do it because you want to and none of this 'for the good of the group' crap. Because, when it comes down to it, if they're not standing by us now, then maybe we were never really our friends."

He chose not to break up with her. She was relived. And another part of her, a small, childlike part, did want them to break up, hoping everything would return to normal. But the adult in her knew, this would not be the case. They would just get what they wanted and move on, leaving her and Eric feeling as if they did something wrong- which they didn't… right?

And then there was Michael Kelso and Donna Pinciotti, both of which her and Eric never really saw. Apparently Hyde and Fez hung out with Kelso in the beginning, going to bowling alleys and discos to try to pick up chicks. But then Hyde and Kelso had a falling out, and now only Fez still talked to her dimwitted ex-boyfriend.

As for Donna, only Fez seemed to keep in contact with her. Jackie would walk in on him in the Forman's kitchen or living room, calling her or in the middle of calling her, making her laugh and telling strange stories that Jackie herself wasn't privy to. And Fez would try to encourage her to talk to Donna, but she always chickened out. Like, what girl would want to talk to her ex-boyfriend's new girlfriend- the one who took your place in his life?

She just knew it wouldn't end well and usually ran off. And yes, maybe she was a little guilty about it, but she didn't care. Maybe it was because when he was with Kelso she was the devoted girlfriend and saw him mess around with other women, and now with Donna, she felt she was the 'other woman'. It was something she didn't want to think about.

But back to that first fight, she remembered what started it:

Dancing.

They were in her old room, back in the old mansion, a place her father allowed her to stay despite her mother's departure. She had talked Eric into painting her toenails. Cherry red, she remembered. And while he was doing that, talking about how Leia should be with Luke and not Han Solo, she was politely half-listening and reading the latest Cosmo. The article that caught her attention was: _7 Easy ways to tell if you met The One!_

She forgot the rest, but number five was dancing. If her and Eric could dance in synch, then according to Cosmo, they were meant to be! Now, she knows this is stupid. But when you're a teenager, it's a bit different, and back then her and Eric got such little approval she supposed she was just begging for some sort of proof that her and Eric belonged together.

She immediately wanted to dance- of course after her nails dried.

But Eric didn't. He made a face, "Jackie, I dance like a dumbass!"

"You can't be that bad," she reasoned, and then winked, "If you are, then I'll just teach you."

At first it was a little fun. Light laughs as he stumbled and she tried to guide him to where his hands were supposed to be at, what steps to take and when to twirl her. She even remembered what song it was- Dean Martin's _Aint that a Kick in the Head!_

 _How lucky can one guy be?_

 _I kissed her and she kissed me!_

 _Like a fella once said,_

 _"_ _Aint that a kick in the head!"_

After stepping on her feet a few times, and twirling her into a dresser, he seemed to be catching on pretty well. She decided to compliment him, saying through a giggle, "Wow, you improved much better than Michael!"

The record might as well have stopped with a screeching halt.

She recalled how Eric's moves slowed, and his eyes suddenly glazed over. The corners of his mouth twitched when he asked hollowly, "Do you always compare me to him?"

She blinked- caught off guard. She could feel her own smile tighten as she told him, "I don't compare you to him. And besides, it's not as if you don't compare me to Donna."

Their energetic swaying instantly cooled.

Eric shot her a cold look, "Since when do I compare you with Donna?"

Jackie found herself bringing up something she didn't even know she remembered, spitting out, "Last week I told you I wanted to go visit Lake Michigan and take pictures of each other by the water, but you didn't want to!"

"Lake Michigan is freezing this time of year!" Eric protested, and Jackie continued hotly, dropping her arms from around his neck, "And when I told you that I was interested in it because I started dabbling in photography, you asked me why I couldn't have a hobby that was less demanding! When I sarcastically replied, 'like what?', you shrugged your shoulders, 'like writing.'"

Eric threw up his arms, "What the hell does that have to do with Donna?!"

"Do you think I'm stupid, Eric!" Jackie bellowed, "Donna's a writer!"

"So?!" Eric shouted, pulling a very unattractive face.

Jackie lowered her voice, squinting her eyes, "You want me to have her hobbies. I don't think that's a coincidence."

"That doesn't matter!" He retorted, tossing her statement off to the side, "What matters is that you're always comparing me to Kelso and I'm not him! You say things like, 'You wear this much better than Michael' and 'You are much more polite than him' and 'It's nice to have someone who listens to me for a change'. Jackie, I can't live in his shadow! He was good looking- I'm not! He was charming- I'm not! He had sex- I'm still a virgin!"

"He was awful his first time, I'm sure you'll do much better than him-"

Eric snapped, pointing a finger at her, "There you go again! Comparing! And let me ask you, missy: What if I'm not, hm?! Are you gonna dump me?!"

Jackie scrunched up her face, "That's stupid!"

"Is it?!" Eric countered, "Because from my perspective, it feels perfectly possible!"

Jackie cocked up an eyebrow, "Well then if you feel that way, then you don't trust me. And if you don't trust me- what the hell are we doing here, Eric?"

He paused, giving it a good thought. And then he spoke, turning away from her because he was sure she would be perturbed at what he was about to admit, "You're too good for me, Jackie."

He said it so softly, she almost missed it. Her eyes widened, surprised, "What?"

He chewed on his lower lip nervously, "You heard me."

"I know, but…" She wasn't sure how she could phrase what she was thinking, _feeling_. She did her best, "I'm not. And you're being too sensitive."

"Too sensitive?" He blinked- shocked, "Well I guess one of us has to be!"

"Eric!" She snapped, turning her back to him, walking exactly four steps away from him before turning back around and giving him a good hard look, before confessing, "I'm not really good with being sensitive toward other people's feelings. Just take one look at my upbringing and you can guess why. I know I talk out of my ass sometimes, and sometimes it's just easier to ignore other people because they hurt you, and sometimes it's just easier to hurt them first but Eric…" Her lips twisted as she continued, her voice cracking, "But I do try with you. I really do. And I know I can be a real bitch sometimes, but, I know it's no excuse but… I guess what I'm trying to say is that I thought you were too good for me."

He looked up, his face puzzled, "That makes no sense."

"Yeah it does," She gave a hollow laugh, "And I hope you never see the truth behind it all."

"Truth?"

And here it was: the thing she had been denying since they had gotten together- denying to everyone, including herself. That is, until now.

"… I think I'm an alcoholic."

In fairytales, the prince finds the princess and they live happily ever after. He fixes everything for her, or maybe true love does. But in real life, it's different... It takes work to fix a problem. And that was a four letter word a certain heiress never had in her vocabulary.


	19. Chapter 19

CH. 19

1978:

 _Eric stared at her- stunned._

 _"_ _But," he started slowly, "You don't really drink."_

 _"_ _Eric," She told him flatly, her eyes glazing over, "I just don't do it in front of you."_

 _"_ _Well, uh, maybe you're not that bad. I mean, my mom drinks and smokes… and she's a decent person."_

 _God bless his reasoning. And he had her on that. She brush her teeth with bourbon or anything like that, but she did drink when she felt down, and she had to admit, with everything that had been going on with their friends, she had been feeling down an awful lot._

 _She told Eric this…._

Now, 10 Years Later:

Sometimes things don't always work out as imagined.

Jackie never thought her step-father would be a hippie who happened to be a grill- master. But she shouldn't have been surprised- when it comes to smoking things, Leo is the best in the business. And by the way, his smoked brisket could make your mouth water and tummy hum with content. Made her a little jealous that she couldn't cook like that…

And she never thought the hippie and her mother would move to Canada. Not that she had anything against Canada, well, except that one time when she was eight and her family took a trip up there and she found everyone so damn nice it irritated her to the bone and when her father's business partner from Vancouver introduced his daughter to her and she smiled sweetly at Jackie, saying, "I like your shoes", Jackie snapped, "Stop it!" She also hated how most of the people she ran into had funny accents and seemed to sing Gordon Lightfoot songs. She shouted at a few more people about that. And now that she thought about it, Jackie was pretty sure Canada banned her. _Oh well,_ she figured, _their loss_.

But the one thing she completely got wrong was her future.

As a child, she thought she'd be married to Michael Kelso, have three children, Jack- their oldest who was the spitting image of his father but a biggillion times smarter, Michelle- who Jackie mused would be her mini-me in all ways, shapes, and forms, and Bobby- named after Bobby Kennedy who looked like a combination of her and Michael and would grow up to have his father's chiseled jaw and nose, with her glowing eyes and jet black hair. She always thought of Jack as the politician, Michelle as a French model- her being American was just a triviality, and Bobby was going to be a football sensation!

As Jackie stared at her take-home pregnancy test- still in it's package- she thought of something.

Eric.

Eric was cute, adorable, polite and well-mannered. Yes, sometimes he could be a true asshole, like the time he won a bet and forced her to massage his back for a week, or the time he blackmailed her to kiss him every time someone called him a "nerd" or a "dork" or he'd tell everyone she snored when she was really tired. Of course on that last one he was getting back at her for embarrassing him in front of his co-workers at the company picnic when she revealed he wore Star Wars pajamas to bed. But, in all honesty, she thought they already knew that. For heaven's sake- Eric showed up to work with ties with a Spider-Man design, in all honesty, this wasn't much of a stretch.

And yes, he did annoying things at times, such as being a big baby when it came to getting shots at the doctor's or expecting her to cut the crust off of bread just like his mother used to, or wasting "their money" on comic books and movies (though she wasn't too mad because she had been planning on blowing it on clothes, booz, and makeup). But still, Eric had his moments…

Like the time she was sick and he bought her three different types of chicken soups so she could figure out which one she liked best for the duration of her illness. Or the time she had a terrible headache after the worst day of work in the history of horrible things that could happen at work, and he massaged her pounding head, turned off all the lights, and played some soft, soothing music- Peter Frampton, of course. He even went out and got her some frozen yogurt that day, claiming that "sweets make everything better." Of course this contradicted her mother's mantra of "sweet's make everything wider- especially around the hip area" but, she let it pass. She liked his version better. And how could she forget the time she messed up and made a horrendous accounting error that could have cost the company thousands of dollars (could also her and Eric fired seeing as how they worked for the same company- though in different departments), and Eric helped her break into the offices late at night. While she distracted the security guard being her usual sexy self- something Eric didn't like as he claimed he had dibs on her usual sexy self- Eric and a friend of his from the tech department broke into the accounting department, overrode their system, and fixed the error. Come Monday morning, no one was the wiser, and Eric made her promise to be more careful, stating, "We could have easily gone to jail, and you know I'm a lover and not a fighter… and I'm afraid to be _loved_ in jail." While he gulped, she could only roll her eyes and promise some Star Wars role playing for their next intimate engagement.

Suddenly she was all forgiven.

Yes, she loved Eric. But she was also afraid… and a bit guilty for being afraid. You see, Eric was not Michael. Michael was picked on for being dumb, but he always came out on top because he was sociable, funny, and extremely good looking.

Eric was not. In many ways, they were opposites. Eric was smart (though at times he could do astoundingly stupid things like the time he bought her a samurai sword for an anniversary present. Jackie almost killed him with it, especially when she found out he was going to get her jewelry and flowers but felt the samurai sword was more of a "symbol of sensuality." No doubt one of those losers in the Tech Department talked him into it, but we digress…), Eric was funny, in a sort of sarcastic, pointing out the obvious sort of way (which angered her when he directed it at her, like that one time when they were getting ready for bed, and she still had facial cream on her face, trying desperately to get rid of an invisible wrinkle Peggy from HR pointed out to her, and she asked Eric in a desperate attempt to boost her self-confidence, "I still look hot, right?" And he paused, staring at her with all that green gunk on her face before saying in this half sarcastic, half serious sort of voice, "…. Yes." She almost made him sleep on the couch for that one. It was just an annoying response- ok) and lastly, Eric wasn't sociable. He thought it was because he was skinny, still looked seventeen, and had a lazy eye from a childhood incident in which Laurie stabbed him in the eye with a freshly sharpened pencil for telling on her to Kitty that he caught her kissing a teenager behind the gym. Laurie was 9. The teenager was 13. In Jackie's opinion, the signs of trouble were quite obvious, but again, we digress…

But Jackie was convinced his terrible luck in social events were the cause of his gullibility, combined with his nerdiness, and sprinkled with his 'special' type of humor that very few people outside their original basement gang appreciated.

And this brings us to thing Jackie couldn't get over- what she was afraid of, and feeling guilty of being afraid of it:

To have a child like Eric.

Well, maybe that was said wrong. In all honesty, she wouldn't mind having a little Eric Forman, playing with his action figures and quoting Star Trek or whatever to her as she did the laundry and folded his little Iron Man underwear and placed them next to his tiny Batman T-shirts. It would be adorable to watch him work his way awkwardly with girls, until finding one who liked him for him, and watching him give her flowers he stole from someone's flower garden… and then Jackie herself having to apologize profusely to the person he stole said flowers from. It was such a heartwarming thing for her to imagine, Eric and then their son, holding hands, walking down a pier at sunset alongside a beach somewhere, and Eric looking down at Little Eric, explaining the world to him. Only for later that same day, Jackie herself to be explaining to Little Eric what his father was explaining to him earlier, as she tucked Little Eric between his He-Man bedsheets, because Eric managed to confuse Little Eric. She'd have to explain that dragons weren't real and Star Wars didn't really happen "a long long time ago" unless 1977 was really that long ago, and it didn't happen in "a galaxy far far away", seeing as how it was made on earth.

She loved Little Eric. He was as cute as a button, and shy, and nice and polite…

And picked on.

By kids at school. By adults. By everyone. And that helpless feeling of being unable to protect a child from that world of pain was unbearable to her. And she was sure as her name was Jackie Burkhart, that Little Eric would get picked on because he was exactly like his daddy, and Eric was picked on a lot.

Jackie cringed at those memories, of kids writing atrocious things on Eric's locker in Junior High, giving him swirlies in the girl's restroom, yanking his underwear out of his pants so that they could give him 'monster wedgies.' Making fun of his stature, his hair, his name, his eyes… watching the other boys push him around because he was smaller and they could, watching girl's joke and laugh about him because he was painfully awkward.

And then the guilt came, in waves.

Wave One was usually her guilt in not stopping it. She was mainly a bystander back then, not stepping in or stopping it from happening. She was too afraid. She didn't want them to start picking on her too, after all, back then status was everything and she had her future as Prom Queen to worry about. Besides, Eric Forman was sort of dorky and weird, and the worst thing she could think of was her trying to intervene on Eric's behalf only for rumors to spread that she liked him. And to her that was horrifying. Not just because Eric was considered "beneath" her and to date him she would sink lower in the "Junior High Social Ladder", but because deep down, she kinda knew she did have a teeny bit of a crush on him. She didn't want that discovered, so she desperately hid it. And all that time she spend with nerdy Eric Forman? She explained it away by saying that he was her boyfriend's friend, and who Michael hung out with was his business. And it was let go… because Michael Kelso had the looks for it to be let go of.

Then there was Wave Two of guilt: The guilt of her a part of her not wanting her son to be like Eric just because she was afraid he'd get bullied. It was a horrible thought, she knew, but she was scared. If Little Eric came home with a wedgie, she just might lose it.

Wave Three: Would this be Karma getting her back for all those times she let Eric get bullied in front of her by her popular "friends" all those years ago? Oh how she prayed it wasn't.

Wave Four: Could she even be a good mother? Her only example was her own mother, and thought she loved Pam, honestly speaking, the older woman was wreck and an alcoholic most of her life. It wasn't until recently, when she married Leo, that she started to get her life back together again.

Wave Five: Who was she kidding?! She wasn't ready to be a mom! She wasn't even married yet! She and Eric had been together for close to ten years and they weren't hitched, tied the know, walk the plank, and a half dozen other synonyms for it! And yes, she was well aware of the ultimate irony: Emotionally unavailable Steven Hyde and Liberal, Feminist, and self proclaimed Miss Independent, Donna Pinciotti, had married five years ago and had a three year old daughter, Alexandria (Alex for short). They lived in California, and owned their own radio station somewhere just outside Los Angeles or Sacramento… something like that. Who would have thunk it: The two who dreamed of marriage and children the most were the ones who weren't married with children. Even Mr. Fear of Commitment himself, Michael Kelso, was currently engaged to the mother of his 8 year old daughter, Betsy. They lived a quiet life in Chicago, where Michael- surprise, surprise- cashed in on his looks and became a local anchor man. As for the final member of the group- Never Could Get A Date Fez, now had plenty of dates, with both men and women. Strangely enough, Jackie and Eric were not shocked by the news, and according to Fez (as he was the only one who kept in touch with everyone seeing as how Hyde & Donna didn't speak with Kelso and none of them spoke with Eric & Jackie), Fez claimed the only one truly stunned was Kelso, who at some point had become obsessed with getting their foreign friend back on the "straight and narrow". But after some strange events, things that Fez flatly refused to disclose, Kelso stopped trying and now Fez had been in a relationship with another man called Fenton. They lived in Florida, both having steady jobs at the mall, Fenton as a jewelry salesman and Fez as an ice cream vendor. They had been together for two years, and in that time, moved in together in a small apartment and adopted a French poodle named Dorothy and a Siamese cat named Snagglepuss.

And that was it.

The gang just sort of drifted apart, never quite being able to heal from the "betrayal" of her and Eric's relationship- something Eric still felt a little bad about and Jackie felt annoyed by. If they couldn't stand with them, then they obviously weren't real friends, despite Eric's claims that they were merely just hurt.

But back to the pregnancy test… there is something that must be admitted. Jackie doesn't even know if she's pregnant. All she knows is that her period is late and she's been feeling nauseous lately. Which brings us to our current predicament- her, sitting at the corner of her and Eric's tiny restroom, staring at the homemade pregnancy test- too chicken to go through with it.

Because once she takes it- and she knows for sure that she's pregnant, there's no going back from that. She'll have to tell Eric. They will be parents. They will be responsible for another life. But at least for now, right now, as she still didn't know for sure, she could at least pretend she wasn't pregnant, and for a little while longer, it wasn't real.

But she kinda wanted it to be real. She wanted Little Eric to be real.

And as images of Eric being picked on at school flashed though her mind, Jackie shook her head.

Did she want Little Eric to be real?

Now she wasn't so sure…

Outside the door she heard someone enter the apartment and Eric's voice calling out, worry engrained in his voice, "Jackie?! It's me, I'm home!"

Jackie quickly scrambled to her feet, tossing the pregnancy test in the medicine cabinet as if it were poison. She immediately darted out of the restroom to meet her boyfriend in the living room, "Hey!" She smiled from ear to ear, "Where have you been?"

Eric raised a bag full of comics, "Completing my Uncanny X-Men collection and placing a bid for an original Planet of the Apes background mask at the comic book store. But, but Jackie?" His eyes widened slightly, and he licked his lips. He only did both when he was nervous and somehow, someway, perhapd from being with him for so long, Jackie knew something wasn't good.

"Yes?" She asked slowly, half of her panicked that he somehow figured out her pregnancy suspiscions. Huh, wouldn't that be a twist- the guy telling the girl she was pregnant.

The words tumbled out of his mouth, "My class reunion is coming up."

Jackie's eyes lifted so high they could've touched her hairline.

"How did you-?"

Eric shook his head, twitching, something he did when he grew very nervous, "On my way in I stopped by the mail slots ot pick up our mail." He produced an invitation to her. She briefly skimmed it before nodding slowly, "It is a reunion invitation."

"Do you know what this means?" He fidgeted, "We might see the old gang again, together, under one roof! Hasn't been like that in a decade! And now that we're all older, we can finally let sleeping dogs lie and be friends again!"

Same old Eric, Jackie thought, twisting her lips sadly, 'Still wants to get the gang back together for something that happened 10 years ago.

Eric saw that 'please don't start this up again' pleading look in her eye and he quickly swallowed, "Please, listen to me! I always felt bad about how things left off-"

"Eric-"

"We never really had a proper goodbye with anyone, I mean, Donna just left in the middle of the schoolyear and-"

"Eric-"

"Hyde left soon after that too and Kelso just stopped speaking to us, cutting us off-"

"Eric." Jackie cut in sharply, "It's done. It's over. Please, just let this go."

"I can't let this go! They were our friends!"

Jackie rolled her eyes, "Obviously they weren't, and besides, we need to start thinking of our future, not our past. We have to concentrate on the here, the now."

Eric twisted his lips, the anguish of being ton between wanting to reconnect with old friends and agreeing with Jackie playing out on his face. Finally he managed a small, "Why?"

"For us." Her voice was firm.

For Little Eric.

Eric glumly looked at the invitation at the table, "So, we're not going?"

"Do you want to go?"

"I want to see them again. Don't you?"

She did. She just wasn't sure about it. In fact, the whole thought was making her feel nauseous. Hell, the words, "I need a drink" were on the tip of her tongue.

Reluctantly she nodded.

Eric smiled a bit, "So we are going."

Jackie eyed the invitation, not sure where this was headed, "That's what it looks like."

She turned her back to him and eyed the kitchen drawer. The rest of the cupboards were a dark brown, except for one- it was a light brown. Her and Eric rented their apartment with it already there. According their last landlord, the previous tenants were extremely rowdy and enjoyed breaking furniture. And she hated how out-of-place it looked, and often balked at it's uncomplimentary colors, but today was different. Today she was eyeing what she, and only she, knew what was inside.

A whole bottle of vodka- something she purchased some time back when she thought Eric was going to break up with her. Something she couldn't quite get herself to part with…

Slowly, Jackie looked down at her tummy.

… no matter the circumstances….


End file.
